THE  GROWTH 


OF  THE 


CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


ANCIENT  AND  MEDIEVAL 
CHRISTIANITY 


ROBERT  HASTINGS  NICHOLS 


EX  UBRIS 

OIimHiDfflCYfiQSS 


THE  GROWTH 

OF  THE 

CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

By 

ROBERT  HASTINGS  NICHOLS 

Professor  of  Church  History  in  Auburn  Theological 
Seminary 


Volume  I 

ANCIENT  AND  MEDIEVAL 
CHRISTIANITY 


Philadelphia 

THE  WESTMINSTER  PRESS 

1914 


/24(? 


Copyright,  1914,  by  F.  M.  Braselmann 


PREFACE 

THE  writing  of  this  book  was  undertaken  at 
the  request  of  the  Committee  on  Religious 
Education  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  the  United  States  of  America. 
That  Committee  desired  a  presentation  of  Church 
History  suitable  for  the  use  of  classes  of  young 
people  of  high-school  age.  The  book  is  intended 
for  such  classes,  and  makes  no  pretensions  to  do 
anytiiing  more  than  try  to  meet  their  needs. 

Robert  Hastings  Nichols. 

Auburn  Theological  Seminary, 
May  13,  1914. 


in 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  TEACHERS  AND  CLASS 

LEADERS 

The  chapters  in  these  volumes  have  been  framed 
with  the  thought  that  each  of  them  should  be  the 
material  for  one  meeting  of  a  class.  Thus  there 
would  be  two  courses  of  nine  meetings  each,  or 
one  course  of  eighteen  meetings.  The  individual 
teacher  or  leader  must  decide  whether  or  not  his 
class  will  need  more  than  one  meeting  for  any 
chapter.  It  will  hardly  be  found  advisable  for 
a  class  of  the  age  for  which  the  book  is  primarily 
intended  to  take  more  than  one  chapter  at  a 
meeting.  With  more  mature  classes  this  might 
be  done,  though  it  is  hoped  that  in  every  chapter 
there  is  enough  for  an  hour's  consideration  by 
any  class.  Although  Chapters  XVII  and  XVIII 
are  longer  than  the  others,  it  will  probably  be 
found  that  students,  coming  to  them  after  going 
through  the  earlier  chapters,  will  be  able  to  take 
each  of  them  at  one  meeting. 

Unless  the  teacher  is  already  somewhat  familiar 
with  church  history,  it  is  strongly  advised  that  he 
read  all  that  the  class  is  to  cover  in  the  course  be- 
fore he  prepares  himself  for  the  first  meeting.  To 
do  this  will  make  it  much  easier  to  handle  the 
chapters  as  they  come. 

It  is  even  more  strongly  advised  that  the  teacher 
read  as  much  as  he  can  in  standard  books  on 
church  history  and  in  the  biographies  of  the  great 


vi       GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

men  of  the  Church  who  are  referred  to  in  the  chap- 
ters. Other  things  being  equal,  the  teacher  who 
reads  most  will  give  most  to  his  class.  It  is  hardly 
possible  to  teach  church  history  interestingly  and 
effectively  on  the  basis  of  only  such  knowledge  as 
can  be  obtained  from  the  textbook  used.  Lists  of 
books  for  teachers'  reading  have  been  provided, 
and  it  is  hoped  that  the  books  named,  or  others, 
will  be  much  read. 

Almost  all  of  the  classes  which  will  use  this  book 
will  be  wholly  voluntary.  It  is  peculiarly  difficult 
to  get  reading  done  by  such  classes.  Yet  it  will 
not  be  of  much  interest  or  use  to  anyone  to  attend 
a  meeting  of  a  class  studying  church  history,  if 
he  has  not  done  the  reading  assigned  for  the  meet- 
ing. The  teacher  should  employ  all  possible  means 
to  get  the  class  to  do  the  reading  beforehand.  The 
Questions  for  Study  appended  to  the  chapters  may 
be  of  use  in  this  connection.  The  members  of  the 
class  might  be  asked  to  write  out  the  answers  to 
some  or  all  of  the  questions.  It  will  conduce  to 
faithfulness  in  reading,  and  will  be  otherwise  help- 
ful, if  the  teacher  devotes  a  few  minutes  at  each 
meeting  to  going  rapidly  over  what  is  to  be  studied 
for  the  next  meeting. 

No  one  thing  illuminates  the  study  of  history 
more  than  does  the  use  of  maps.  The  teacher  ought 
in  his  preparation  to  consult  often  an  historical 
atlas.  If  a  set  of  historical  maps  is  available  for 
class  use,  it  will  be  a  great  advantage.  Failing 
this,  the  maps  in  the  historical  atlas  ought  to  be 
shown  to  the  class  at  certain  points,  which  will 


SUGGESTIONS  vii 

suggest  themselves.  If  the  use  of  an  historical 
atlas  cannot  be  had,  it  will  be  much  better  for  both 
teacher  and  class  to  use  a  general  atlas  than  not 
to  use  any  maps  at  all. 

Much  of  the  subject  matter  of  these  volumes 
will  take  the  class,  and  perhaps  the  teacher  also, 
into  entirely  strange  regions  of  thought  and  ac- 
tion. The  teacher  will  need  to  cultivate  in  him- 
self, and  to  urge  the  class  to  cultivate,  the  power 
of  imagination,  so  that  just  as  far  as  possible  he 
and  they  can  make  themselves  at  home  in  strange 
surroundings,  and  see  things  as  they  looked  to 
^men  of  different  worlds  and  different  thoughts  and 
beliefs.  This  is  one  of  the  places  at  which  wide 
reading  will  help  the  teacher.  For  his  work  with 
the  class,  he  ought  to  be  on  the  lookout  for  things 
in  contemporary  and  familiar  life  which  will  help 
the  student  to  realize  conditions  in  the  past. 

Church  history  ought  to  be  studied  with  open 
mind.  Prejudices  should  all  be  put  down.  The 
mind  should  be  held  ready  to  receive  new  ideas, 
and  to  judge  all  things  on  their  merits,  not  on  the 
basis  of  what  one  has  been  accustomed  to  think. 
It  ought  to  be  studied,  above  all,  with  faith  in  God, 
who  is  guiding  his  Church  to  see  more  truth,  and 
to  do  the  work  of  building  his  everlasting  kingdom. 


CONTENTS  OF  VOLUME  I 


CHAPTER  I 

The  Preparation  for  Christianity 

PAGE 

I.  The  Contributions  of  the  Peoples 1 

A.  The  Eomans   • ^ 

B.  The  Greeks   ^ 

C.  The  Jews ^ 

II.  The  World  at  the  Coming  of  Christianity,  . .  9 

A.  Eeligious  Conditions  ^ 

B.  Intellectual  Conditions  12 

C.  Moral  Conditions  I-' 

Questions  for  Study 1^ 

Beading  


CHAPTER  II 
The  First  Century 

I.  Jesus  and  His  Church ^^ 

A.  Jesus  and  His  Disciples 1^ 

B.  Jesus  Founding  the  Church 16 

II.  The  Apostolic  Church 

A.  The  Beginning 

B.  Church   Extension    

C.  The  Life  of  the  Church 20 

D.  The  Worship  of  the  Church 22 

E.  The  Belief  of  the  Church 23 

F.  The  Government  of  the  Church 2d 

Questions  for  Study ^ 

Eeading   

ix 


:  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  III 
The  Ancient  Church 

(A.  D.  100-590) 

PAGE 

I.  The  World  in  Which  the  Church  Lived 28 

II.  The  Church    31 

A.  Church  Extension    31 

1.  Before  Constantine    32 

2.  After   Constantine    36 

Questions  for  Study 41 

Eeading   42 

CHAPTER  IV 

The  Ancient  Church  (continued) 

(A.  D.  100-590) 

B.  Life  in  the  Church 44 

C.  The  Belief  of  the  Church 49 

D.  The  Worship  of  the  Church 55 

E.  The  Organization  of  the  Church 57 

1.  The  Development  of  the  Organization 57 

2.  Churches  Separated  from  the  Catholic  Church  62 

Questions  for  Study 63 

Eeading   64 

CHAPTER  V 
The  Church  in  the  Early  Middle  Ages 

(A.  D.  590-1073) 

I.  The  World  in  Which  the  Church  Lived 65 

II.  The  Church 69 

A.  Church  Extension    69 

B.  The  Organization  of  the  Church 75 

1.  The  Eise  of  the  Papacy 75 

2.  The  Separation  of  East  and  West 80 

Questions  for  Study 82 

Eeading 83 


CONTENTS  JO. 

CHAPTER  YI 

PAGE 

The  Church  in  the  Early  Middle  Ages 

(continued) 

(A.  D.  590-1073) 

C.  Christianity    at    War    with    Paganism    within 

the  Church   84 

1.  Life  in  the  Church 86 

2.  Worship  and  Popular  Eeligion 89 

D.  Dawn    after  the  Dark  Ages 92 

E.  Life  and  Thought  in  the  Eastern  Part  of  the 

Church   96 

Questions  for  Study 99 

Beading  100 


CHAPTER  VII 

The  Church  at  the  Height  of  the  Middle 

Ages 

(A.  D.   1073-1294) 
I.  The  Western  Church 101 

A.  The  Medieval  Papacy 101 

1.  Hildebrand     101 

a.  The  Church  to  Be  Freed  from  the  World  101 

b.  The  Church  to  be  Supreme  over  the  World  108 

2.  Innocent  III    110 

B.  The  Church  Ruling  the  Western  World 112 

1.  The  Extent  of  the  Church 113 

2.  The  Church's  War  against  Islam — The  Cru- 
sades        113 

Questions  for  Study 119 

Reading 120 


xii  CONTENTS 

CIIAriEK  VIII 

The  Church  at  the  Height  of  the  ^IrooLE 
Ages   (continued) 

(A.  D.   1073-1294) 

PAGE 

I.  The  Western  Chi"s.ch  (continued'^ 122 

B.  The  Church  Kuliug  the  Western  World  (con- 
tinued^       122 

3.  The  Wealth  of  the  Church 122 

4.  The  Organization  of  the  Church 123 

5.  The  Discipline  and  Law  of  the  Church. . . .  12S 

6.  The  Worship  of  the  Church 133 

7.  The  Church 's  Place  in  Religion 137 

Questions  for  Study 139 

Beading 139 

CHAPTER  IX 

The  Church  at  the  Hoght  of  the  ^Middle 
Ages  (continued) 

(A.  D.  1073-1294) 

I.  The  Wetstern  Chtikch  (continued) 141 

B.  The  Church  Boling  the  Western  World  (con- 
tinued)         141 

S.  Christian  Life  under  the  Church's  Rale. ...   141 
9.  The  Seiriee  of  the  Medieval  Qrareh  to  the 
World     152 

II.  The  Eastebx  Chtsch 154 

Questions  for  Study 157 

P?r-  ling   157 

li.U^  r 159 


CHAPTER  I 
IHE  PREPARATION  FOR  CHRISTIANITY 

One  of  the  things  that  make  the  study  of 
church  history  inspiring  is  that  by  it  we  are  made 
to  realize  that  God  is  actually  at  work  for  the  sal- 
vation of  mankind  in  the  world  where  we  live. 
Nowhere  do  we  see  this  working  of  God  more 
clearly  than  in  the  strange  and  wonderful  way  in 
which  the  world  was  made  ready  for  the  coming 
of  Jesus.  He  came  at  "the  fulness  of  the  time/' 
when  all  things  had  been  so  molded  by  the  hand 
of  God  as  to  cause  his  coming  to  have  the  great- 
est possible  effect.  We  can  best  understand  this 
preparation  of  the  world  for  Christianity  by  look- 
ing first  at  the  parts  played  in  it,  under  God,  by 
three  great  peoples,  and  then  at  the  condition  of 
the  society  in  which  Christianity  first  appeared 
and  made  its  first  conquests. 

I.  THE  CONTELBUTIONS  OF  THE  PEOPLES 
A-    THE   ROMANS 

When    Christianity    came,    and    during    all   its    The  Roman 
early  life,  the  Romans  were  rulers  of  the  world.    '^°'    ^"^ 
This  we  may  truly  caU  them,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  there  was  much  outside  of  their  possessions, 
for  it  was  in  what  they  ruled  that  the  civilization 
of  the  world  was  then  making  its  great  advances. 

1 


2       GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

The  inhabitants  of  this  Roman  domain  regarded 
it  as  the  world,  and  ignored  what  lay  beyond. 
Moreover,  the  Roman  world  included  aU  the  lands 
with  which  Christianity  had  to  do  during  the  first 
three  centuries  of  the  Christian  era.  By  A.  D.  50 
the  Roman  Empire  included  Europe  south  of  the 
Rhine  and  the  Danube,  most  of  England,  Egypt 
and  the  whole  northern  coast  of  Africa,  and  most 
of  Asia  from  the  Mediterranean  to  Mesopotamia. 
All  this  the  Romans  did  not  merely  hold  by  force. 
They  governed  it  intelligently  and  effectively. 
Wherever  Roman  rule  spread  it  brought  a  higher 
civilization  than  had  before  existed.  The  empire's 
power  was  greatest  and  its  administration  most 
efficient  in  the  lands  about  the  Mediterranean, 
where  Christianity  was  first  planted. 

By  this  world  rule  the  Romans  were  most  use- 
ful instruments  of  God  to  prepare  the  way  for 
^*f-"*"  Christianity.  Their  empire,  including  so  much  of 
mankind,  was  an  object  lesson  giving  men  some 
idea  of  the  oneness  of  humanity.  For  ages  sep- 
arate governments  had  made  groups  of  men  feel 
themselves  separate  and  different  from  all  other 
men.  But  now  all  men  were  one  in  the  sense  that 
all  separate  governments  had  been  broken  down 
and  one  power  ruled  everywhere.  Christianity  is 
a  universal  religion,  knowing  no  distinctions  of 
race,  appealing  to  men  simply  as  men,  making 
all  one  in  Christ.  For  such  a  religion  there 
was  a  most  valuable  preparation  in  the  fact 
that  when  it  came  men  were  already  one  under 
Rome. 


one 


PREPARATION  FOR  CHRISTIANITY  3 

Furthermore,  the  Roman  rule  brought  world-  Cau5ed 
wide  peace,  pax  Romana,  Wars  between  nations  ^o'''<*-w'dc 
were  for  the  most  part  impossible  under  the  sway 
of  the  mighty  empire.  This  peace  among  the 
peoples  was  very  favorable  to  the  spread  from  one 
land  to  another  of  the  religion  which  claimed  uni- 
versal dominion. 

Finally  the  Roman  administration,  strong  and  Opened  the 
watchful  and  wise,  made  travel  and  communica- ^*"^'**^^j*^*^^ 
tion  between  different  parts  of  the  world  safe  and  intercourse 
easy.  The  sea  was  cleared  of  the  pirates  who  by 
their  terrors  had  hindered  navigation.  On  land 
the  splendid  Roman  roads  ran  to  all  parts  of  the 
empire,  doing  for  distant  regions  what  railways 
do  in  our  times;  and  these  roads  were  so  policed 
that  the  highway  robber's  life  was  unprofitable. 
Thus  travel,  for  business  and  other  purposes,  was 
encouraged  and  greatly  increased.  It  is  probable 
that  during  the  early  years  of  Christianity  people 
moved  about  from  city  to  city  and  from  country 
to  country  more  largely  than  they  did  at  any  later 
time  until  after  the  Middle  Ages.  Those  who  know 
how  much  modem  facilities  of  travel  have  fur- 
thered missionary  work  will  at  once  see  what  this 
state  of  affairs  meant  to  Christianity  when  it  was 
being  first  planted.  Such  a  missionary  career  as 
that  of  Paul  would  have  been  impossible  without 
the  freedom  of  travel  due  to  the  Roman  rule. 
Christianity  was  greatly  helped  in  its  early  years 
by  this  opening  of  doors  throughout  the  civilized 
world,  making  it  easy  for  the  Christian  mission- 
varies  to  move  about,  and  encouraging  that  free  in- 


4       GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

tercourse  among  countries  by  which  new  ideas  are 
circulated. 

B.    THE    GREEKS 

The  wide         When  Christianity  came,  the  people  living  in  the 
'"  "creeks  ^^  Tcgious  about  the  Mediterranean  had  been  much 
affected  by  the  spirit  of  the  Greek  people.     Colo- 
nies of  Greeks,  some  of  them  hundreds  of  years 
old,  were  widely  scattered  along  the  coasts  of  this 
sea.    With  their  trade  the  Greeks  went  everywhere. 
Thus   their   influence   was   extensive,   and  it  was 
strongest  in  those  cities  and  countries  which  were 
the  most  important  centers  of  the  life  of  mankind. 
So  strong  was  it  that  we  often  call  this  ancient 
world  "Greco-Roman,''  for  as  it  was  ruled  polit- 
ically^ by  Rome,  the  thinking  of  its  people  was 
largely  molded  by  the  Greeks. 
The  Greek        During  Several   centuries  preceding  the   Chris- 
stimuiated     "^^^^  ^ra  the  Greek  people  had  the  most  vigorous 
thought  among  intellectual  life  in  the  world.     Thought  about  the 

their  people  j.  j.-  i  •   i  i  i 

great  questions  over  which  men  have  always  pon- 
dered, about  the  origin  and  the  meaning  of  the 
world,  about  God  and  man,  and  right  and  wrong, 
flourished  among  them  as  nowhere  else.  The  He- 
brews had  indeed  received  a  revelation  of  God  and 
his  will  not  possessed  by  the  Greeks,  but  they  were 
not  given  to  discussing  these  great  questions  as 
were  the  Greeks.  From  the  sixth  to  the  third  cen- 
tury before  Christ  a  great  movement  of  thought 
on  matters  of  philosophy  and  theology  took  place 
among  the  Greeks,  in  the  course  of  which  some 
of  the  world's  very  greatest  thinkers   appeared, 


PREPARATION  FOR  CHRISTIANITY 


and  much  that  is  permanently  valuable  was  given 
to  the  world.  The  result  of  this  was  a  wonderful 
development  of  the  mind  of  the  Greek  people.  To 
a  large  extent  they  learned  how  to  think  about  the 
questions  which  their  philosophers  debated.  Their 
wits  were  sharpened  and  their  curiosity  was  roused. 
Socrates,  going  about  in  the  public  places  of  Athens 
and  asking  men  questions  which  made  them  stop 
and  consider  things  which  had  never  before  oc- 
curred to  them,  is  a  type  of  this  influence.  So  it 
came  about  that  the  typical  Greek  was  a  keen, 
inquisitive,  disputatious  man,  eager  to  talk  of  the 
deepest  things  in  heaven  and  earth. 

We  can  see  now  what  would  be  the  effect  of  the  Hence  the 
contact  of  the  Greeks  with  other  peoples.  Their 
influence  worked  far  and  wide  to  rouse  inquiry 
concerning  the  great  questions  of  life,  and  to  teach 
men  how  to  think  about  them.  This  temper  of  in- 
tellectual curiosity  and  this  readiness  of  thought 
were  prevalent  in  the  great  centers  of  the  Greco- 
Roman  world,  the  places  where  Christianity  was 
preached  by  its  early  missionaries.  Thus  the  peo- 
ple of  these  places  were  more  hospitable  to  a  new 
religion  and  better  prepared  to  receive  it  than 
they  would  have  been  if  they  had  not  come  under 
the  Greek  influence. 

The  Greeks  made  another  important  contribution 
to  the  preparation  for  Christianity  by  supply- 
ing the  language  in  which  it  was  first  to  speak  to 
mankind.  A  sign  of  the  extent  and  strength  of 
the  Greek  influence  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  the 
language  most  used  in  the  countries  around  the 


Greek  influence 
set  other 
peoples  to 
thinking 


The  Greeks 

provided  a 

universal 

language 


6       GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

Mediterranean  was  a  Greek  dialect,  that  known  as 
the  Koine,  the  ''common"  dialect.  This  was  the 
universal  language  of  the  Greco-Roman  world,  used 
for  all  purposes  of  popular  intercourse.  One  who 
spoke  it  could  make  himself  understood  every- 
where, especially  in  those  great  centers  where 
Christianity  was  first  planted.  The  earliest  Chris- 
tian missionaries,  for  example  Paul,  did  most  of 
their  preaching  in  this  language.  In  it  the  earliest 
Christian  books,  those  that  make  up  our  New  Tes- 
tament, were  written.  Thus  the  universal  religion 
found  ready  for  it  a  universal  language  in  which 
it  could  at  once  speak  to  all  men ;  and  this  in- 
estimable help  had  been  provided,  under  God,  by 
the  Greek  people. 

C.    THE    JEWS 

The  mission  of  The  Hebrew,  or  Jewish,  people  had  been  divinely 
peopTe*  appointed  to  be  the  stewards  for  the  world  of  true 
religion.  It  was  their  mission  to  receive  from  God 
special  revelation  concerning  himself  and  his  will, 
to  master  this  divine  teaching  as  it  was  progres- 
sively given  to  them,  and  to  preserve  it  in  purity, 
so  that  in  ''the  fulness  of  the  time"  they  might  be 
a  blessing  to  all  peoples.  We  cannot  fully  see  the 
grandeur  of  their  national  life  unless  we  view  their 
history  as  a  part  of  God's  preparation  of  the  world 
for  the  coming  of  the  religion  by  which  he  pur- 
posed to  save  the  world. 

reugfoiTslife  "^^^  Jcws,  it  has  bccu  truly  said,  supplied  "the 
the  first      cradle  of  Christianity,"  the  surroundings  for  its 

were  trained   birth  and  early  growth.     They  provided  the  re- 


PREPARATION  FOR  CHRISTIANITY  7 

ligious  life  in  which  were  trained  our  Lord  Jesus 
himself,  and  all  the  earliest  Christians,  including 
all  the  first  apostles  and  missionaries.  Nowhere 
else  in  the  world  at  the  coming  of  Christianity  was 
there  a  religious  life  so  pure  and  strong  as  that 
which  existed  among  the  best  representatives  of 
Jewish  religion.  Its  central  features  were  two,  the 
highest  conception  of  God  known  to  men,  that 
which  is  taught  in  the  Old  Testament;  and  the 
highest  known  ideal  of  moral  life,  an  ideal  spring- 
ing from  this  lofty  conception  of  God.  Speaking 
as  men  must,  we  cannot  see  how  such  a  life  and 
such  teachings  as  those  of  Jesus  could  have  come 
out  of  the  religious  life  of  any  existing  people 
other  than  the  Jews.  Nor  can  we  see  how  men  fit 
to  receive  at  its  beginning  the  religion  which  he 
brought  and  to  spread  it  abroad  could  have  been 
found  among  any  other  people.  Men  trained  in 
that  older  religion  which  was  so  closely  akin  to 
Christianity  were  needed  to  understand  and  preach 
the  new  religion.  The  better  one  knows  the  life 
of  the  Greeks  and  the  Romans,  the  more  one  feels 
the  impossibility  of  gathering  among  them  men 
who  would  have  been  to  Christianity  what  the  first 
disciples  and  Paul  were. 

Secondly,  the  Jews  prepared  the  way  for  Chris-  The  jews  were 
tianity  by  being  a  race  expecting  what  Christianity  saviour 
offered,  a  divine  Saviour.  The  hope  of  a  Messiah 
was  cherished  by  all  Jews  as  their  dearest  posses- 
sion. To  be  sure  it  was  held  by  many  of  them  in 
gross  and  worldly  forms.  But  in  all  its  forms 
there  was  the  essential  thing,  the  ardent  expecta- 


8       GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

tion  of  one  sent  of  God  to  redeem  his  people. 
Among  other  peoples  there  was  nowhere  an  out- 
look on  the  future  comparable  to  the  Jewish  Mes- 
sianic hope.  Indeed  in  the  Greco-Roman  world 
there  was  a  good  deal  of  despair  and  weariness. 
Christianity  found  all  of  its  first  adherents  among 
the  Jews,  and  one  thing  that  qualified  them  to  re- 
ceive it  was  the  Jewish  hope  of  a  divine  Sav- 
iour. 
The  Jews  gave  Thirdly,  the  Jews  provided  for  Christianity  an 
the  Old  inestimable  help  in  their  sacred  books,  our  Old 
Testament  Testament,  treasured  by  them  as  the  record  of 
God's  revelation  of  himself  in  their  national  life. 
By  this  means  the  new  religion  was  supplied  at 
the  outset  with  a  religious  literature  far  surpass- 
ing anything  of  the  kind  in  existence,  which 
confirmed  Christian  teachings  and  foreshadowed 
Christ.  Before  Christianity  had  had  time  to 
produce  Christian  books,  it  found  ready  to  its 
hand  writings  which  were  of  the  greatest  help  to 
it.  Jesus  had  constantly  used  the  Old  Testament 
to  sustain  his  own  life  and  to  support  his  teach- 
ings. In  keeping  with  his  example  the  Jewish 
Scriptures  were  regularly  read  in  the  meetings  of 
the  early  Christians  for  worship.  All  Christians, 
Jewish  and  of  other  peoples,  drew  from  them  in- 
calculable inspiration  and  instruction.  It  should 
be  noted,  too,  that  the  Old  Testament  was  known 
to  the  numerous  Gentiles  who  had  been  attracted 
to  Jewish  religion  as  the  purest  they  could  find, 
and  that  thus  it  proved  a  way  by  which  many  of 
these  men  came  to  Jesus. 


PREPARATION  FOR  CHRISTIANITY         9 

Something  must  be  said  about  the  important  The  influence 
part  played  in  the  preparation  for  Christianity  by  thJiCHspws^ion 
the  Jews  of  the  Dispersion.  This  means  the  many 
Jews  who,  because  of  the  scattering  resulting  from 
the  captivities,  were  to  be  found  in  almost  every 
town  of  the  Greco-Roman  world.  Everywhere 
they  kept  their  religion  and  maintained  their  syna- 
gogues. In  many  places  they  carried  on  active 
missionary  work.  By  this  they  won  from  among 
the  Gentiles  numerous  proselytes,  and  made  the 
teachings  of  their  religion  known  to  many  others 
who  did  not  fully  accept  it.  This  Jewish  mission 
was  a  most  useful  forerunner  of  the  Christian  mis- 
sion, for  it  spread  extensively  among  the  Gentiles 
certain  elements  of  religion  which  are  essential  to 
Christianity  as  well  as  to  Judaism.  One  of  these 
was  the  belief  that  God  is  one.  Another  was  a 
lofty  moral  law,  which  Judaism,  like  Christianity, 
taught  was  an  integral  part  of  religion.  In  this 
both  of  them  differed  from  pagan  religions,  which 
had  nothing  to  say  about  how  men  ought  to  live. 
A  third  was  the  expectation  of  a  Saviour.  Many 
Gentiles  had  been  inspired  with  this  hope  by  con- 
tact with  Jews,  and  thus  were  prepared  to  accept 
Jesus  as  him  who  was  to  come. 

II.  THE  WORLD  AT  THE  COMING  OF  CHRISTIANITY 
A.    RELIGIOUS    CONDITIONS 

The  old  religion  of  the  gods  and  goddesses  of         The 

1  1      .1  i       •  old  classical 

Greece  and  Rome,  known  to  us  through  the  stories      religion 
of  classical  mythology,  had  lost  almost  all  of  its      decaying 


10     GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

life  by  the  time  of  the  birth  of  Christianity.  The 
forms  of  its  worship  were  somewhat  kept  up,  but 
its  power  was  gone.  Educated  men  generally  did 
not  pretend  to  believe  in  it,  nor  had  it  much  in- 
fluence over  the  common  people.  The  emperor 
Augustus,  who  was  reigning  when  Jesus  was  born, 
was  greatly  troubled  by  the  decay  of  the  old  re- 
ligion, and  made  great  efforts  to  revive  it,  but 
mostly    in    vain.      Augustus   also    introduced   the 

The  Roman  Roman  statc  religion.  As  it  was  later  more  fully 
developed,  this  Avas  the  worship  of  the  statues  of 
the  reigning  emperor  and  of  past  emperors,  as 
symbols  of  the  empire.  But  this  worship  was  a 
political  act,  an  expression  of  loyalty  to  the  gov- 
ernment, rather  than  what  we  should  think  an  act 
of  religion. 

New  religions  Nevertheless  the  age  was  not,  as  it  is  sometimes 
thought,  irreligious.  For  out  of  the  East  strange 
new  religions  rose  and  swept  in  successive  waves 
over  the  civilized  world,  each  winning  converts. 
From  Asia  Minor  came  the  worship  of  ''the  great 
mother,"  Cybele.  From  Egypt  came  the  cult  of 
Serapis  and  Isis.  From  Persia  came  the  most  pop- 
ular and  powerful  of  all  these  Oriental  religions, 
that  of  Mithra,  which  had  some  striking  super- 
ficial likenesses  to  Christianity,  especially  in  recog- 
nizing the  need  of  cleansing  from  sin  and  in  hav- 
ing a  teaching  of  a  future  life.  Mithraism  won  an 
especially  large  following  in  the  Roman  army,  and 
thus  was  carried  far  and  wide.  Besides  these, 
forms  of  religion  modeled  after  the  old  Greek  mys- 
teries attracted  many  people.    The  mysteries  were 


PREPARATION  FOR  CHRISTIANITY        11 

elaborate  ceremonies  expressing  in  dramatic  form 
the  desire  for  purification  from  sin,  the  hope  of 
immortality,  and  the  joy  of  a  fellowship  resting 
on  religion. 

The  age  in  which  Christianity  won  its  first  con-     a  world  of 
quests  was  therefore  a  religious  age,  in  the  sense   curtosTty"and 
that  there  was  much  interest  in  learning  about  *     <iesire 
various  forms  of  religion  and  much  eager  seeking 
after  better  religions.     It  was  not  religious  in  the 
sense  of  there  being  general  satisfaction  with  any 
one  religion.     The  Greco-Roman  world  was  full  of 
restless,  discontented  spiritual  yearning.     In  view 
of  what  Christianity  brought,  it  should  be  noticed 
that  three  things  were  prominent  in  the  prevailing 
religious  temper;  a  growing  belief  in  one  universal 
God,  a  widespread  sense  of  sin  and  desire  for  puri- 
fication from  it,  and  a  great  interest  in  the  ques- 
tion of  what  comes  after  death. 

The  best  religion  existing  before  Christianity  Judaism  could 
came,  we  have  said,  was  the  Jewish.  But  in  spite  vvrrid'reiigion 
of  its  superiority  and  its  wide  teaching  through 
the  Dispersion,  Judaism  could  not  meet  the  world's 
need.  While  Jesus  was  living,  it  showed  that  it 
was  not  able  to  be  a  universal  religion,  that  it  had 
done  its  great  work.  This  clearly  appears  in  the 
character  of  its  leaders.  They  were  the  priests, 
the  Sadducees,  and  the  teachers,  the  Pharisees. 
The  Sadducees  were  worldly  and  skeptical,  and 
therefore  without  power  to  strengthen  religious 
life.  Among  the  Pharisees  there  was  growing 
steadily  a  narrow  racial  spirit,  desirous  of  confin- 
ing the  Jewish  religion  to  the  Jewish  people,  and 


12     GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

opposed  to  the  missionary  work  among  the  Gen- 
tiles which  had  been  going  on. 

B.    INTELLECTUAL   CONDITIONS 

The  great  Greek  philosophical  movement  came 
to  an  end,  so  far  as  concerned .  progress  in  the 
quest  for  truth,  long  before  the  Christian  era. 
When  Christianity  appeared,  Greek  thought  was 
making  no  advance.  Two  Greek  philosophies,  Epi- 
cureanism and  Stoicism,  had  considerable  vogue  in 
the  Roman  Empire  during  the  early  years  of  Chris- 
tianity. But  neither  of  them  satisfied  men's  minds 
as  to  the  great  questions  of  sin  and  of  the  future 
life  which  were  burdening  them.  Both  of  them 
had  great  faults  as  teachings  to  live  by,  Epicurean- 
ism being  too  superficial  and  selfish,  and  Stoicism 
too  lacking  in  human  sympathy.  Among  thought- 
ful men  there  was  a  strong  sense  of  the  unsatisfac- 
toriness  of  human  thinking,  and  much  desire  for 
more  certainty  than  they  had  as  to  the  great  ques- 
tions of  life.  At  the  death  of  his  daughter,  the 
younger  Pliny  writes  thus  to  a  friend:  "Give  me 
some  fresh  comfort,  great  and  strong,  such  as  I 
have  never  yet  heard  or  read.  Everything  that  I 
have  read  or  heard  comes  back  now  to  my  memory, 
but  my  sorrow  is  too  deep  to  be  reached  by  it. ' ' 

C.    MORAL   CONDITIONS 

It  has  been  customary  to  paint  the  moral  state 
of  the  civilized  world  during  the  early  days  of 
Christianity  in  the  blackest  colors,  as  though  no 
goodness  worth  mentioning  existed.     Such  an  idea 


PREPARATION  FOR  CHRISTIANITY        13 

of  the  age  is  not  justified  by  the  facts  known  to 
us.  It  has  been  produced  chiefly  by  too  large  use 
of  the  writings  of  the  satirists  of  the  time,  who 
lashed  the  vices  of  ''society,"  and  of  the  scandals 
recounted  by  the  biographers  of  the  aristocracy. 
The  upper  classes  were  no  doubt  horribly  corrupt. 
Among  the  middle  and  lower  ranks,  however,  many 
men  and  women  were  leading  virtuous  and  kindly 
lives. 

But  when  we  have  collected  all  the  favorable 
evidence,  as  well  as  the  unfavorable,  the  resulting 
picture  is  dark  enough.  The  age  was  decadent. 
Men's  minds  were  uncertain,  restless,  dissatisfied. 
The  existing  religions  and  philosophies  had  no  con- 
trol over  life.  The  result  was  a  prevailing  low 
moral  tone.  There  were  uncleanness,  falsehood, 
cruelty,  selfishness,  beyond  anything  we  know  in 
Christendom.  No  force  making  for  better  things 
existed,  until  Christianity  gained  power.  The 
tendency  of  society  was  steadily  downward  to 
even  greater  wickedness. 

In  keeping  with  all  this,  a  temper  of  weariness 
and  emptiness  ruled  many  men,  and  especially 
some  of  the  best  and  most  thoughtful.  It  was  a 
w^orld  of  much  gloom  and  hopelessness,  as  well  as 
corruption,  into  which  the  first  Christian  mission- 
aries brought  their  good  news  of  salvation. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  STUDY 

1.  What  was  the  extent  of  the  Roman  Empire  when 
Christianity  appeared?  What  was  the  character  of  its 
government? 


14     GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

2.  In  what  three  ways  did  the  Eoman  rule  prepare  the 
world  for  Christianity  f 

3.  "What  was  the  extent  of  Greek  influence  when  Chris- 
tianity appeared?     What  effect  did  it  have  upon  men? 

4.  How  was  this  effect  of  Greek  influence  a  preparation 
for  Christianity? 

5.  What  did  the  Greeks  do  for  Christianity  by  their 
language  ? 

6.  What  was  the  divine  mission  of  the  Jewish  people? 

7.  In  what  three  ways  did  the  Jews  prepare  the  way 
for  Christianity? 

8.  What  was  the  ''Dispersion, '^  and  what  special  serv- 
ices did  the  Jews  of  the  Dispersion  give  in  the  prepara- 
tion for  Christianity? 

9.  What  was  the  state  of  the  old  religion  of  Greece 
and   Rome   when    Christianity   came? 

10.  What  was  the  Roman  state  religion? 

11.  What  new  religions  were  influential  in  the  Greco- 
Roman  world  in  the  early  days  of  Christianity? 

12.  What  was  the  general  religious  character  of  the 
age? 

13.  Why  could  not  Judaism  be  the  universal  religion? 

14.  What  was  the  intellectual  condition  of  the  Greco- 
Roman  world  when  Christianity  appeared? 

15.  What  was  its  moral  condition? 

READING 

Wenley :     '  *  The  Preparation  for  Christianity. ' ' 

T.  C.  Hall:  ''The  Historical  Setting  of  the  Early 
Gospel,''  chs.  I-IV. 

Breed:     "The  Preparation  of  the  World  for  Christ." 

Foakes- Jackson :  "History  of  the  Christian  Church  to 
A.  D.  461,"  ch.  I. 

Fisher:  "History  of  the  Christian  Church,"  Period  I, 
eh.  I. 

Schaff :    "History  of  the  Christian  Church,"  Vol.  I,  ch.  I. 

Glover:  "The  Conflict  of  Religions  in  the  Early  Roman 
Empire,"  chs.  I-III. 


CHAPTER  II 
THE  FIRST  CENTURY  ' 

I.  JESUS  AND  HIS  CHURCH 
A.    JESUS   AND   HIS   DISCIPLES 

Jesus  had  *' compassion  on  the  multitude/*  and       r-  r     j 
strove  to  reach  with  his  ministry  as  many  men  w 

and  women  as  was  possible.  But  he  evidently  felt 
that  he  could  do  more  for  the  world  by  constantly 
keeping  with  himself  a  few  chosen  men,  and  filling 
them  with  his  spirit,  so  that  they  might  continue 
his  work,  than  by  spending  all  his  time  in  general 
public  teaching.  At  the  very  beginning  of  his 
ministry  he  began  to  call  men  to  be  his  personal 
companions.  Later,  from  those  who  believed  in  lYZiMUM^ 
him  he  chose  twelve  to  be  his  close  associates.  We  -^>cC  Xl  I  * 
are  told  also  of  seventy  disciples  whom  he  ap- 
pointed and  instructed  for  a  special  ministry  of 
preaching.  Jesus'  relations  with  his  disciples, 
especially  with  the  Twelve,  form  one  of  the  most 
important  and  characteristic  parts  of  his  work. 
He  gave  to  them  teaching  which  he  did  not  give 
generally.  He  trained  them  so  that  after  he  was 
gone  they  could  give  to  men  knowledge  of  him, 
and  of  the  revelation  of  God  and  the  salvation 
which  he  brought,  and  of  the  way  of  life  to  which 
he  called  everyone.  Toward  the  end  of  his  min- 
istry he  confined  himself  more  and  more  to  this 
kind  of  work  for  his  disciples.    After  his  resurrec- 

15 


6  V/lMiaaA  CIIa^wcIv^    '  ' 


16     GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

t  tion  his  appearances  were  to  them  only.    His  last 

Ml SS I  6AAY|     ^^^^^  ^^  ^^^^  ^^g  ^  command  to  carry  their  preach- 
C(iW\wsiS.^Uvs  jjjg  Q^  liis  gospel  among  "all  the  nations,"  and  a 
r  promise   to   be   with   them   in   fullness   of   power 

^  through  all  time  while  they  were  doing  this  world- 

wide work. 

B.    JESUS   POUNDING   THE   CHURCH 

Plainly  Jesus  designed  that  there  should  be  a  so- 
ciety of  his  followers  to  give  to  mankind  his  gospel 
and  minister  to  mankind  in  his  spirit,  to  labor  as 
he  did  for  the  increase  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 
He  fashioned  no  organization  or  plan  of  govern- 
ment for  this  society.  He  appointed  no  officers 
to  have  authority  in  it  over  other  members.  He 
prescribed  for  it  no  creed.  He  imposed  on  it  no 
code  of  rules.  He  commanded  no  forms  or  orders 
for  worship,  and  gave  to  his  followers  only  the 
simplest  religious  rites.  These  were  baptism,  the 
use  of  water  to  signify  spiritual  cleansing  and  con- 
secration to  his  discipleship,  and  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per, the  use  of  portions  of  the  two  most  common 
articles  of  food  as  a  commemoration  of  himself, 
especially  of  his  death  for  the  redemption  of  men. 
Therefore  what  Jesus  did  would  not  be  truly  de- 
scribed by  saying  that  he  organized  the  Church. 
He  did  a  greater  thing  than  give  organization ;  he 
gave  life.     He  founded  the  Church,  or  created  it. 

Jesus  formed  the  society  of  his  followers  by 
calling  them  together  about  himself.  He  communi- 
cated to  it  so  far  as  he  could  while  he  was  on  earth 
his  own  life,  his  spirit  and  purpose.    He  promised 


THE  FIRST  CENTURY  17 

to  continue  to  the  end  of  the  world  to  impart  his 
life  to  this  society,  his  Church.  His  great  gift  to 
his  Church,  we  may  say,  was  himself.  In  him  the 
Church  was  to  find  its  principles,  its  aims,  its 
power.  He  left  it  free  to  make  for  itself  forms 
of  organization  and  of  worship,  and  statements  of  ..^-^ 
belief,  and  methods  of  work.  His  purpose  evi- 
dently was  that  the  life  of  his  Church,  that  is,  his 
life  abiding  in  his  followers,  should  express  itself 
in  any  outward  ways  that  might  seem  to  them 
best  for  the  great  end  in  view. 

II.  THE  APOSTOLIC  CHURCH 
(TO  A.  D.  100) 

A.    THE    BEGINNING 

In  one  sense,  the  Christian  Church  came  into 
being  when  Jesus  first  made  disciples.  But  it  is 
commonly  said  that  the  history  of  the  Church  be- 
gins on  the^^day  of  Pentecost  following  the  resur- 
rection; for  then  began  the  active  life  of  the 
Church.  After  our  Lord's  withdrawal  of  his 
bodily  presence  from  his  disciples,  though  they 
had  laid  upon  them  his  command  to  preach  his 
gospel  to  the  world,  they  remained  quiet.  They 
were  waiting,  according  to  his  word,  for  power 
from  on  high.  Ten  days  later,  at  Pentecost,  the  The  effect  of 
Holy  Spirit  promised  by  Jesus  came  upon  them.    Pentecost  on 

•^^^  _*^  „  ^  „  the  disciples 

It  came  as  a  great  endowment  of  energy  lor  serv- 
ice.    At  once  they  became  outspoken  witnesses  for 
their  Lord,  full  of  gallant  activity.     The  change 
'.showed  itself  in  Peter's  speech  at  Pentecost.    What 


18     GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

we  see  in  him  that  day  expresses  the  spirit  of  all 
these  first  Christians  from  that  day  forward.  That 
day,  then,  there  came  into  being  the  Christian 
Church,  as  a  company  of  disciples  of  Jesus  bear- 
ing witness  of  him,  proclaiming  his  gospel,  build- 
ing the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth. 

B.    CHURCH   EXTENSION 

The  first  The  first  preaching  of  the  gospel,  at  Pentecost, 

to  Jews  ^y  ^'^^  addressed  to  Jews  only.  For  some  time,  per- 
haps two  or  three  years,  Christian  missions  were 
confined  to  the  Jews,  beginning  in  Jerusalem  and 
thence  extending  into  Palestine.  The  earliest 
Christians  did  not  at  once  see  the  full  breadth  of 
Jesus'  purpose  of  saving  the  world.  Being  them- 
selves Jews,  and  knowing  that  he  was  the  Messiah 
expected  of  their  people,  they  at  first  considered 
him  the  Saviour  solely  or  chiefly  of  Jews,  in  spite 
of  much  in  his  life  and  words  which  should  have 
taught  them  better. 
Through  Pcrsccutiou  was  the  way  by  which  the  infant 

Owrch'wL's  led  ^^^^^^^  Came  to  a  truer  understanding  of  the 
to  widen  its  gospcl  which  Jcsus  had  given  it  to  preach,  and  a 
mission  broadcr  vision  of  the  work  which  Jesus  purposed 
for  it.  The  Jewish  religious  authorities,  who  had 
from  the  first  hindered  Christian  preaching,  were 
aroused  by  the  bold  defiance  of  Stephen's  speech 
to  make  a  systematic,  savage  campaign  against 
Christianity.  By  this  attack  the  Christian  com- 
munity in  Jerusalem,  numbering  now  some  thou- 
sands, was  broken  up.  Its  members  sought  safety 
here  and  there  in  Palestine.     Though  fleeing  for 


THE  FIRST  CENTURY  19 

their  lives  because  of  their  faith,  they  carried 
the  gospel  wherever  they  went.  Some  of  them 
went  to  the  great  city  of  Antioch  in  Syria. 
Here  the  followers  of  Jesus  were  first  called 
['  Christians. ' '  ^  And  here,  living  in  the  midst  "oT" 
a  Greek  population,  these  exiles  made  Jesus  known 
to  Greeks  as  well  as  to  Jews. 

Thus  certain  obscure  and  unknown  believers  took    Christianity 
the  first  great  step  in  causing  Christianity  to  be  '^^nivCTsaP 
a  universal  religion.     A  little  later  this  church  at      reUgion 
Antioch  sent  out  Barnabas  and  Paul,  the  first  men 
to  go  under  express  appointment  to  preach  Christ 
to  the   Gentiles.     Paul  it  was  who,   under   God, 
finished   the   work   of   tearing    Christianity   loose 
from  Jewish  fetters.    He  made  it  actually  what  it 
always  had  been  in  God's  purpose,  a  religion  for 
all  men.     Henceforth  it  was  preached  to  all  men 
on  equal  terms. 

Thus  launched  on  its  great  missionary  career.     Growth  of 
Christianity  spread  so  that  by  A.  D.  100  there  were  ^'^hefosT'" 
churches  in  many  cities  of  Asia  Minor,  in  a  num-      century 
ber  of  places  in  Palestine,  Syria,  Macedonia  and 
Greece,  in  Rome  and  Puteoli  in  Italy,  in  Alexan- 
dria and  probably  in  Spain.    The  greatest  worker 
in  bringing  this  about  was,  of  course,  Paul.     The   Missionaries 

„  , ,  .      .  .  J,  -,        who  caused 

names    oi   some   other   missionaries,    tor   example    ^^^^^  growth 
Prisca  and  Aquila,  are  recorded  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment.    The  traditions  about  the  preaching  of  the 
original  apostles  lead  us  to  think  that  all  of  them 


1  This  name  seems  to  have  been  applied  to  the  disciples  by  other 
people,  not  chosen  by  themselves.  It  may  have  been  a  derisive  nick- 
name. 


20     GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

were  fearless  witnesses,  carrying  the  gospel  far, 
though  we  know  certainly  about  their  work  only 
in  the  cases  of  Peter  and  John.  But  much  of  the 
heroic  service  that  spread  Christianity  so  widely 
was  given  by  nameless  disciples.  Many  a  Christian 
was  a  missionary,  eager  to  give  the  joy  which  he 
had  in  Christ  to  the  people  he  met  in  his  daily 
work  and  in  other  associations.  By  their  zeal  in 
speaking  of  him,  and  yet  more  by  lives  faithful  to 
him  and  showing  his  power  to  save,  these  unknown 
Christians  were  most  effective  missionaries  of  their 
religion. 

C.    THE   LIFE   OF   THE   CHURCH 

A  Christian  church  in  these  times  was  usually  a 
small    company    of    believers    living    in    a    large 
heathen  town.    Almost  all  of  them  were  poor  peo- 
ple, some  of  them  slaves,  although  there  were  some 
Christians  of  higher  social  rank,  especially  in  the 
Characteristics  Roman   church.      Everywhere   certain   things   dis- 
of  the       tinguished  the  Christians  from  their  pagan  neigh- 
(1)  brotherly  bors.     They  called  each  other  brethren  in  Christ, 
^^^        and  really  acted  as  brethren.     The  poor,  the  sick, 
the  widows  and  orphans,  were  lovingly  cared  for. 
The    collection   and   administration    of    charitable 
funds  formed  one  of  the  most  important  parts  of 
the    life    of    these    early    churches.      "Within    the 
Church  social  distinctions  were  abolished.     Master 
and   slave   stood   on   one   level.      Women   held   a 
much  more  honorable  and  influential  position  than 
(2)  moral     ^j^g^  ^-^  ^^  ^^le  world  outsidc.   The  Christians  were 

earnestness  j  'i. 

and  purity    marked  also  by  a  moral  earnestness  and  a  purity 


THE  FIRST  CENTURY  21 

unknown  elsewhere.  Paul's  Epistles  to  the  Cor- 
inthians tell  us  of  a  people  far  from  perfect,  as 
would  be  expected  of  those  lately  converted  from 
heathenism  and  living  in  the  midst  of  its  tempta- 
tions. Nevertheless,  the  lives  of  Christians  gen- 
erally showed  the  power  of  the  gospel  to  give  men 
and  women  a  new  righteousness.  Again,  the  ruling  O)  confident 
temper  of  the  Christians  was  gladness  and  confi-  ^^  "^** 
dence.  They  rejoiced  in  the  love  of  God  their 
Father,  in  the  fellowship  of  the  living  Lord  Jesus, 
in  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  in  the  certainty  of  im- 
mortality; and  so  they  stood  out  against  the  sad- 
ness that  oppressed  many  around  them.  These 
characteristics  of  the  primitive  Christians  were 
powerful  to  commend  Christianity  to  others  and 
thus  further  its  spread. 

All  these  characteristics  drew  some  of  their  Hope  of  the 
strength  from  the  fact  that  these  believers  lived  ^  ^  commg 
in  constant  expectation  of  the  speedy  return  of 
their  Lord  in  visible  glorious  presence,  and  his  tri- 
umphant reign  on  the  earth.  The  dominance  of 
this  hope  in  the  apostolic  Church  should  never  be 
forgotten  in  thinking  of  this  period.  True,  these 
earliest  Christians  were  mistaken  in  some  of  their 
ideas  on  this  subject,  but  their  hope  did  much  to 
purify  and  strengthen  their  lives. 

The  Christians  needed  special  help,  for  they  PersecuHon 
were  constantly  exposed  to  suffering  for  their 
faith.  Sometimes  they  were  harassed  by  Jewish 
enemies  of  Christianity.  Sometimes  unorganized 
popular  anger  vented  itself  on  them.  The  Chris- 
tians were  hated  by  many  because  their  lives  were 


22     GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

standing  condemnations  of  prevalent  religious 
customs  and  moral  conduct.  From  the  time  of  the 
emperor  Nero  (A.  D.  54-68)  the  Roman  Govern- 
ment was  hostile  to  Christianity,  and  tried  to  sup- 
press it,  with  vigor  and  cruelty  which  varied  with 
different  rulers.  The  reasons  for  this  official  per- 
secution we  shall  consider  in  our  next  chapter ;  but 
it  should  be  noted  here  that  during  most  of  the  lat- 
ter half  of  the  first  century  Christianity  had  the 
power  that  ruled  the  world  for  an  enemy.  Many 
Christians,  famous  leaders  like  Paul  and  also  un- 
known heroes,  won  the  martyr's  crown. 

D.    THE   WORSHIP   OF    THE    CHURCH 

The  meeting  Persccutiou  and  poverty  made  church  buildings 
worship  impossible  in  the  first  century,  so  that  the  Chris- 
tians met  for  worship  in  private  houses.  From 
Paul's  Epistles,  especially  those  to  the  Corinthians, 
we  learn  that  there  were  two  sorts  of  meetings  for 
worship.  One  was  of  the  nature  of  a  prayer  meet- 
ing. It  was  carried  on  by  the  people,  who  took 
part  as  the  Spirit  moved  them.  Prayers  were  of- 
fered, and  testimony  and  instruction  given.  There 
was  singing  of  the  Psalms,  and  also  of  Christian 
hymns,  which  began  to  be  written  in  the  first  cen- 
tury. The  Old  Testament  Scriptures  were  read 
and  expounded,  and  there  was  reading  or  recita- 
tion from  memory  of  accounts  of  the  deeds  and 
words  of  Jesus.  When  apostles  sent  to  churches 
letters,  such  as  we  have  in  the  Epistles  of  the  New 
Testament,  these  also  were  read.  In  this  meeting 
the   enthusiasm   of   primitive    Christianity   found 


THE  FIRST  CENTURY  23 

free  utterance.  Sometimes  there  was  such  eager- 
ness to  take  part  that  disorder  resulted.  To  this 
meeting  non-Christians  were  admitted.  Sometimes 
one  of  them  would  be  moved  to  confess  his  sins  and 
give  his  allegiance  to  Jesus. 

The  other  meeting  was  the  love  feast.  This  was  The  love  feast 
a  joyful  and  sacred  common  meal,  the  symbol  of  ^"^^su^'^'^^^ 
Christian  brotherly  love.  Only  Christians  were  al- 
lowed to  be  present.  Everyone  brought  provisions 
for  the  meal,  and  these  were  to  be  shared  by  all 
alike.  Paul  rebukes  the  selfishness  of  those  who 
ate  what  they  themselves  brought,  refusing  to 
share  with  those  who  could  not  bring  things  as 
good.  During  the  meal  prayers  of  thanksgiving 
were  offered  by  the  presiding  brother.  At  its 
close  the  Lord's  Supper  was  celebrated,  some  of 
the  food  of  the  meal  being  used  for  the  sacra- 
ment. This  meeting  was  held  on  the  Lord's  Day, 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  which  the  Christians  kept 
as  the  weekly  festival  of  their  Lord's  resurrection. 
Although  there  is  a  good  deal  of  uncertainty 
about  the  matter,  it  is  probable  that  at  first  the  love 
feast  was  held  in  the  evening,  the  ordinary  even- 
ing meal  taking  this  form  among  Christians.  Later 
in  the  first  century,  it  seems,  the  Lord's  Supper 
was  separated  from  the  love  feast  and  observed  at 
a  morning  meeting.  We  know  that  in  the  second 
century  the  Lord's  Supper,  or  Eucharist,  was  cele- 
brated on  the  morning  of  the  Lord's  Day. 

E.    THE   BELIEF    OF    THE    CHURCH 

No  creeds  or  other  formal  statements  of  its  belief 


24    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

were  composed  by  the  Churcli  in  the  first  cen- 
tury. The  Apostles'  Creed  was  not  used  before 
the  second  century.  For  knowledge  of  the  belief 
of  the  early  Christians  we  must  go  to  the  New 
Belief  of  the  Testament.  They  believed  in  God  the  Father,  in 
ns  lans  j^g^g  ^^   g^^  ^£  q^^  ^^^  Saviour,  in  the  Holy 

Spirit  of  whose  presence  they  were  conscious. 
They  believed  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins.  They  ac- 
cepted Jesus'  teaching  of  love  to  all  men  as  their 
moral  ideal.  They  looked  for  his  speedy  return, 
for  final  judgment  exercised  by  him,  and  for  eter- 
nal life  as  the  destiny  of  those  who  believed  in 
him.  Their  doctrinal  ideas,  if  such  they  may  be 
called,  were  very  simple.  All  their  thoughts  about 
religious  truth  were  dominated  by  Jesus,  in  whom 
their  religion  was  wholly  wrapped  up. 
Influences        Two  influences  caused  some  of  the  first  century 

*^"^(i?  the**'^*'  Christians  to  have  mistaken  religious  ideas,  and 
judaizers  somcwhat  threatened  the  purity  of  the  gospel.  The 
''Judaizers"  taught  that  Christians  ought  to  per- 
form all  the  ceremonies  required  by  the  Jewish 
law.  Against  them  Paul  contended  sharply;  for 
he  saw  that  if  their  teachings  prevailed,  Chris- 
tianity could  not  be  the  religion  of  people  of  all 

(2)  GnosHdsm  races.  In  the  New  Testament  there  are  also  warn- 
ings against  the  errors  of  what  is  called  Gnosticism. 
This  took  its  rise  in  the  first  century,  and  later 
became  very  powerful.^  It  was  a  strange  mixture 
of  Christian,  Jewish  and  heathen  ideas,  enough 
like  Christianity  to  confuse  the  minds  of  some 
Christians. 

1  See  p.   49. 


THE  FIRST  CENTURY  25 

F.    THE    GOVERNMENT    OF    THE    CHURCH 

All  these  earliest  churches  were  independent  and  independence 
self-governing.  The  Christians  held  that  they  al^^  ""^ '*"''*'^' 
belonged  to  one  universal  Church,  for  all  were 
one  in  Christ.  But  there  was  no  general  organi- 
zation having  control  over  the  scattered  churches. 
The  original  apostles  were  regarded  with  great 
deference  because  of  their  relation  to  Jesus,  and 
exercised  a  certain  authority,  as  is  shown  by  their 
decision  concerning  Gentile  Christians  and  the 
Jevvdsh  law,  reported  in  Acts,  ch.  15.  Paul  was 
revered  for  his  great  work,  and  therefore  had  a 
position  of  authority.  But  the  authority  of  these 
men  was  not  formal  or  official,  such  as  comes  from 
a  definite  organization.  In  this  first  century  there 
was  no  organized  government  of  the  whole  Church. 
Each  congregation  managed  its  own  affairs  in 
freedom. 

The  New  Testament  tells  of  two  kinds  of  office-  church  officers 
bearers  belonging  to  the  local  churches.  First, 
there  were  elders,  or  presbyters,^  to  whom  was 
given  also  the  title  "bishop,"  meaning  one  who 
has  oversight.  Secondly,  there  were  deacons.  The 
elders  or  bishops  of  a  church  had  the  oversight 
of  it,  in  pastoral  care,  discipline  and  financial  af- 
fairs. The  deacons  gave  subordinate  service  of 
the  same  kinds.     The  highest  work  that  fell  to  the  -. 

elders  was  that  of  presiding  at  the  Lord's  Supper,  ^ 

which  was  the  central  and  most  sacred  feature  of 
the  life  of  the  Church.     These  office-bearers  were 


*  Presbyter  is  the  Greek  word  for  elder. 


26    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

chosen  by  the  people.  Their  authority  came  to 
them  from  God,  through  the  Christian  people,  in 
whom  the  Spirit  of  God  lived.  It  is  to  be  noted 
that  in  the  first  century  there  was  no  one  officer 
doing  for  a  church  what  a  modern  pastor 
does. 
The  prophetic  Besidc  the  ministry  exercised  by  these  local  office- 
bearers, there  was  another  sort  of  ministry,  borne 
by  the  men  called  in  the  New  Testament  apostles 
and  prophets  and  teachers.  The  name  '' apostle j.^ 
was  not  confined  to  the  original  companions  of 
Jesus,  but  was  given  to  others  who  did  the  apos- 
tolic work  of  preaching  the  gospel  in  new  fields. 
These  apostles  and  prophets  and  teachers  were 
men  who  had  gifts  of  the  Spirit  to  preach  and 
teach.  This,  not  any  appointment  or  election,  was 
their  title  to  the  ministry.  Their  ministry  was  to 
the  whole  Church,  not  to  one  local  community  of 
Christians,  and  they,  especially  the  apostles  and 
prophets,  traveled  about  to  do  their  work.  In  the 
first  century  the  preaching  and  teaching  of  the 
word  in  the  churches  was  done  largely  by  these 
men  who  had  gifts  for  such  service,  rather  than 
by  the  local  office-bearers. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  STUDY 

1.  Describe  Jesus'  relations  with  his  disciples. 

2.  What  was  Jesus'   purpose  regarding  the   Church? 

3.  In  what  sense  did  Jesus  found  the  Church?     What 
did  he  not  give  to  it,  and  what  did  he  give? 

4.  When  did  the  active  life  of  the  Church  begin? 

5.  To  whom  was  the  gospel  first  preached? 

6.  How  did  the  Church  come  to  widen  its  preaching? 


THE  FIRST  CENTURY  27 

7.  What   did  Paul  have  to   do  with   Christianity's  be- 
coming the  universal  religion? 

8.  How    far   did    Christianity   spread   in   the  first   cen- 
tury? 

9.  Who  were  its  missionaries? 

10.  What  sort  of  people  composed  the  earliest  churches? 
What  were  the  distinguishing  marks  of  their  life? 

11.  Whence  did  persecution  come  on  the  Christians  of 
this  period? 

12.  What  two    kinds  of   meetings   for   worship   did   they 
have? 

13.  What  was  their  belief? 

14.  What    influences    caused    mistaken    religious    ideas 
among  them? 

15.  Was   there   any  general   church  government   in  the 
first  century? 

16.  What  were  the  officers  of  the  local  churches? 

17.  What  was  the  prophetic  ministry? 

BEADING 

Ropes:    *^The  Apostolic  Age,"  ehs.  II-VIII. 
Bartlet:    ''The  Apostolic  Age." 
^,   McGiffert :    '  *  The  Apostolic  Age, ' '  especially  chs.  I,  II, 
IV,  VI. 

Foakes- Jackson :     "History    of   the   Christian    Church    to 
A.  D.  461,"  chs.  II,  III,  VI,  X. 
.,.-  Xiindsay:     ''The   Church   and   the  Ministry   in  the   Early 

Centuries,"  Lectures  II-IV. 
,,.-^.  C.  Hall:    "The  Historical  Setting  of  the  Early  Gos- 
pel,"  chs.  V-VII. 

Gwatkin:     "Early  Church  History,"  Vol.  I,  chs.  IV-VI. 
^^  Glover :    ' '  The  Conflict  of  Religions  in  the  Early  Roman 
Empire,"  chs.  IV,  V. 

Workman:    "Persecution  in  the  Early  Church,"  ch,  I. 


CHAPTEE  in 
THE  ANCIENT  CHURCH 

(A.  D.  100-590) 
I.  THE  WORLD  IN  WHICH  THE  CHUECH  LIVED 
Extent  of  the       During  the  period  covered  by  this  chapter  and 
Emph-e      "^^6  next,  the  Roman  Empire  reached  its  greatest 
extent,  and  then  declined  until,  so  far  as  Western 
Europe  was   concerned,   it  passed   away.     At  its 
height  it  included  considerable  territory  north  of 
the  Rhine  and  the  Danube,^  and  stretched  east- 
ward to  the  Persian  Gulf  and  the  Caspian  Sea. 
Causes  of  its       The  decline  of  the  empire  was  brought  about  by 
(1)  internal    many  causcs,  internal  and  external.     It  fell  partly 
by  its   own  weight,  having  too   great  a  territory 
and  too  varied  a  population  to  be  held  permanently 
under  one  central  authority.     Many  of  the  em- 
perors were  weak,  or  bad,  or  both.     Government 
in  the  provinces  became  so  corrupt  and  oppressive 
that  some  of  them  were  brought  to  financial  ruin 
and  great  misery.     Slavery  worked  out,  both  in 
Italy  and  elsewhere,  the  disastrous  results  which 
it  has  always  produced,  weakening  character  in  all 
ranks    of    society    and    wasting    resources.      The 
strength  of  the  Romans  and  of  some  of  the  pro- 
vincial peoples  was  eaten  out  by  moral  decay,  in- 
fecting not  only  the  aristocracy,  but  all  classes  of 

1  See  i>.  2. 

28 


the  attacks  of 
the  Germans 


THE  ANCIENT  CHURCH  29 

the  population-.  This  showed  itself  especially  in 
dishonesty  in  private  business  and  government,  in 
sensuality  and  disregard  of  marriage,  and  in  de- 
grading popular  amusements. 

While  the  empire  was  thus  breaking  down  in-  (2)  external; 
wardly,  it  received  from  without  tremendous  blows 
at  the  hands  of  the  ''barbarians."  These  were 
chiefly  the  German  tribes,  whose  homes,  when  we 
first  hear  of  them,  were  about  the  lower  courses  of 
the  great  rivers  falling  into  the  Baltic  and  North 
seas.  Thence  they  made,  tribe  by  tribe,  their  great 
migrations.  In  these  they  were  not  making  mere 
raids,  but  seeking  new  homes.  Their  movements, 
which  lasted  altogether  not  less  than  five  centuries, 
changed  the  face  of  Europe,  bringing  to  many 
regions  entirely  new  populations.  The  Visigoths 
ended  their  long  wanderings  by  conquering  Spain, 
the  Burgundians  took  possession  of  southeastern 
France,  the  Franks  of  northern  France  and  west- 
ern Germany,  the  Angles  and  Saxons  of  England. 

As  early  as  the  second  century  the  Germans 
pressed  on  the  frontier  of  the  empire  hard  enough 
to  strain  the  Roman  power  to  the  utmost.  From 
this  time  the  emperors  had  to  stand  them  off  by 
receiving  some  tribes  as  allies,  giving  them  lands 
and  taking  their  fighting  men  into  the  Roman  army. 
In  A.  D.  378  there  was  fought  at  Adrianople  one 
of  the  decisive  battles  of  the  world,  in  which 
the  Visigoths,  a  German  tribe  then  dwelling  near 
the  lower  Danube,  defeated  the  Romans  under 
Valens  and  killed  this  emperor.  By  this  victory 
the   frontier  was   broken   beyond   repair,   so  that 


80    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

Visigoths  and  other  barbarians  poured  in.  After 
this,  events  moved  rapidly  to  the  sack  of  Rome 
by  the  Visigoths  under  Alaric  in  410.  Even  after 
this  the  Roman  imperial  line  continued,  but  the 
emperors  were  wretchedly  incompetent.  After 
the  middle  of  this  century,  the  real  rulers  were 
the  German  soldiers  of  the  Roman  army,  who 
set  up  and  pulled  down  as  they  would  the  occu- 
pants of  the  throne.  Finally,  in  476,  they  de- 
throned Romulus  Augustulus,  the  last  Roman 
emperor  of  the  West. 

Division  of  the  WTiile  the  empire  was  still  strong  the  emperor 
empire  into    Dioclctiau    (284-305)    had  seen  that  its  territory 

East  and  West  was  too  great  to  be  ruled  from  one  center.  Ac- 
cordingly he  had  arranged  a  division  of  authority 
among  four  rulers,  with  two  capitals,  Rome  and 
Nicomedia,  in  Asia  Minor.  A  few  years  later 
the  strong  hands  of  Constantine  the  Great  seized 
all  the  power.  Already  ruling  in  the  West, 
he  became  sole  emperor  in  323.  He  removed  the 
capital  to  his  splendid  new  city  Constantinople,  but 
still  called  himself  Roman  emperor.  After  several 
rulers  had  succeeded  him  in  this  power,  division  of 
authority  again  prevailed  until  Theodosius,  already 
ruling  in  the  East,  obtained  sole  rule  and  held  it 
for  three  years  (392-395).  He  was  the  last  to 
reign  over  the  whole  Roman  world.  After  him 
there  were  two  lines  of  emperors,  those  of  East  and 
West,  with  capitals  at  Constantinople  and  Rome. 

Break-up  of        The  powcr  of  the  Western  emperors  dwindled, 

^^^torwest'"  ^^  ^^  have  seen,  and  when  the  last  of  them  was 
dethroned  it  was  only  the  passing  of  a  shadow. 


THE  ANCIENT  CHURCH  31 

Before  the  end  most  of  the  Western  provinces  had 
been  broken  away  from  the  empire  by  the  barba- 
rians. For  a  long  time  their  tribes  incessantly 
fought  one  another.  No  strong  government  arose 
anywhere  to  rule  as  Rome  once  had,  and  in  the 
fifth  and  sixth  centuries  western  Europe  was  in 
anarchy  and  dreadfully  afflicted  by  constant  war- 
fare. 

In  the  East  the  emperors  were  far  more  worthy  Eastern 
of  the  name  than  in  the  later  Western  Empire.  ^"^p^'°'^ 
Many  of  them  were  strong  men,  effectively  ruling 
their  great  territory  in  eastern  Europe  and  west- 
ern Asia.  One  of  them  during  this  period  was 
Justinian  (527-565),  among  the  very  greatest  of 
Roman  rulers. 

It  is  important  to  note  that,  though  for  many 
years  there  were  two  emperors,  the  empire  was  not 
thought  of  as  divided.  Its  government  was  di- 
vided, but  men  still  regarded  the  Roman  Empire 
as  one,  and  both  emperors  as  Roman  emperors. 
After  the  end  came  in  the  West,  the  monarchs  of 
Constantinople  claimed  to  be  sole  rulers  of  the 
Roman  world. 

II.  THE  CHUECH 

A.    CHURCH   EXTENSION 

We  have  now  to  see  what  progress  Christianity 
made  in  these  troubled  times.  Two  divisions 
should  be  made  of  this  subject,  for  about  mid- 
way in  our  period,  under  Constantine,  came  a  great 
change  in  the  position  of  Christianity  in  the  world, 
that  is  the  end  of  Roman  persecution. 


32    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

1.  Before  Constcmtine 
Growth  of         In  the  two  centuries  between  A.  D.  100  and  Con- 

Christianity  in      .        •'        j  •  j.i,  t*  i»T  j 

the  second  and  ^"^^^^^^^  ^  reign  the  religion  01  Jesus  made  won- 
third  cenhiries  derful  strides.  At  the  end  of  these  centuries  it 
was  the  prevailing  religion  in  Asia  Minor,  then  a 
very  important  part  of  the  world,  and  in  Armenia. 
In  Macedonia  and  Greece,  Italy  from  Rome  south- 
wards, southern  France,  Spain,  northern  Africa, 
Egypt  and  Syria,  it  was  very  strong.  In  the 
farthest  regions  of  the  empire  it  had  its  out- 
posts. 
Its  spread  in  Christianity  had  spread  into  all  classes  of  so- 
ciety,  as  well  as  over  a  wide  territory.  No  longer 
were  its  people  found  chiefly  among  the  poorest 
and  most  unlearned.  The  churches  contained  not 
a  few  men  and  women  of  high  rank  and  wealth. 
Christians  were  numerous  in  the  imperial  court, 
the  government  and  the  army.  ]\Iany  men  of  high 
culture  had  become  followers  of  Jesus,  and  used 
their  powers  to  further  the  growth  of  his  religion. 
Christianity  had  its  strongest  hold,  however, 
among  the  freedmen.  These  men,  emancipated 
slaves,  formed  a  distinct  social  class.  Among 
them  were  almost  all  of  the  skilled  workingmen  of 
the  time,  and  many  merchants.  The  freedmen 
were  industrious,  intelligent  and  thrifty,  and  were 
gaining  position  and  power.  The  spread  of  Chris- 
tianity was  partly  due  to  the  fact  that  it  was  so 
strong  in  this  rising  class. 

gr^wTh*was        ^*  ^^^^  ^^^  ^^^'  ^hat  nien  brought  about  this 
gained;      great  advaucc  of  Christianity?     At  the  beginning 
of  the  period  there  were,  as  in  the  apostolic  age, 


aries 


THE  ANCIENT  CHURCH 


33 


(2)  apologists 


traveling    missionaries,    pioneers    of    Christianity; 
but  by  A.  D.  200  few  of  them  remained. 

The  apologists,  or  literary  defenders  of  Chris- 
tianity, gave  valuable  missionary  service.     One  of 
these   was   Justin   Martyr    (about   100-165).      He       J"stin 
was  a  Greek,  born  in  Palestine,  and  showed  his 
Greek  blood  by  spending  his  youth  in  going  from 
one  school  of  philosophy  to  another,  in  search  of 
truth.      Somewhere   he   met   a   venerable  man,   a 
Christian,  who  led  him  to  see  that  the  truth  which 
he  had  found  came  to  its  climax  in  Christ.     The 
rest  of  his  life,  until  his  martyrdom,  Justin  spent 
in  traveling  about  as  philosophical  teachers  did, 
teaching   Christianity   as   the  perfect  philosophy. 
He  also   wrote   many  books  intended  to   explain 
Christian   truth   to   the   inquiring   heathen.      An- 
other  apologist   was   Tertullian    (about   160-230),     Tertuiiian 
a  Carthaginian  lawyer,  converted  to  Christianity 
in  middle  life.     He  had  remarkable  gifts  of  keen 
thought  and  forcible  language,  terse,  lively,  and 
satirical.    These,  with  his  fiery  zeal  for  Christ  and 
his  stern  moral  sense,  made  him  one  of  the  great- 
est men  of  the  early  Church.     In  many  writings 
he  refuted  false  charges  against  the  Christians  and 
Christianity,  and  powerfully  set  forth  the  truth. 

The  men  who  did  the  work  of  teachers  ^  in  the    (3)  teachers 
churches  were  also  very  useful  in  spreading  knowl- 
edge   of    Christianity.      Here    belongs    Origen    of       origen 
Alexandria  (185-253).    He  was  born  of  Christian 
parents,  and  received  the  best  education  then  to 
be  had.    In  learning  and  power  of  thought  he  had 


1  See  p.  26. 


34    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


(4) 

the  Christians 

generally 


Persecution 


Its  cause 


no  superior  in  his  day.  He  and  Tertullian  were 
the  two  greatest  men  in  the  Church  of  the  second 
and  third  centuries.  When  only  eighteen  years 
old  Origen  became  head  of  the  catechetical  school 
of  the  church  of  Alexandria.  There  he  was  a 
teacher  of  remarkable  influence,  doing  much  to 
make  Christianity  known  to  non-Christians  as  well 
as  to  Christians.  He  wrote  an  amazing  number  of 
books  expounding  Christian  truth,  including  a 
number  of  commentaries  on  books  of  the  Bible, 
which  are  still  valued  by  Biblical  students.  In 
the  persecution  under  the  emperor  Decius  he  suf- 
fered cruelties  which  hastened  his  death. 

But  most  of  the  work  that  so  greatly  forwarded 
the  cause  of  the  cross  was  done  by  the  Christian 
people  generally.  By  their  lives,  especially  by 
their  brotherly  love  to  each  other  and  also  to  non- 
Christians,  and  their  fidelity  and  courage  under 
persecution,  and  by  constantly  telling  the  gospel 
story,  these  nameless  servants  of  Christ  won  most 
of  those  who  were  won  to  him  in  these  times. 

We  do  not  rightly  appreciate  the  conquests  made 
by  the  Church  in  these  centuries  unless  we  remem- 
ber that  all  this  was  achieved  in  a  time  of  persecu- 
tion. The  Roman  Government  was  tolerant  of  all 
religions  so  long  as  those  who  held  them  honored 
the  state  religion  by  paying  worship  to  the  statues 
of  the  emperors.^  This  true  Christians  could  not 
and  would  not  do.  Their  refusal  made  them  seem 
unpatriotic,  treasonable,  and  thus  their  religion  be- 
came offensive  to  the  government.     From  the  time 


*  The  law  released  Jews  from  this  worship. 


THE  ANCIENT  CHURCH  35 

of  Nero,  to  be  a  Christian  was  to  be  outside  the 
law,  for  it  was  to  share  in  something  which  was  . 

held  to  mean  disloyalty.    Here  we  see  another  rea-  i 

son  why  the  people  often  hated  the  Christians. 
They  were  regarded  by  the  people  somewhat  as 
are  men  w^ho  will  not  honor  the  American  flag. 
Sometimes  government  officers  saved  the  Christians 
from  mob  fury. 

Three  things  were  special  reasons  of  the  Roman  spedai  reasons 
Government's  hostility  toward  Christianity.  One  «' persecution 
was  its  rapid  grojvth,  in  spite  of  repression.    Then  *- 

the  mosF*lmportant  meetings  of  the  Christians, 
those  for  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
were  held  behind  closed  doors.    Therefore  to  some  ^ 

emperors  the  Church  looked  like  a  widespread  and 
growing  secret  society  of  disloyal  principles.  Fur- 
thermore, Christianity,  as  we  have  said,  was  par- 
ticularly strong  in  one  social  class,  that  of  the  ^ 
freedmen.  This  class  was  gaining  power,  and  ^ 
hence  was  feared  and  hated  by  the  aristocracy. 
But  the  aristocracy  controlled  the  government. 
Thus  the  strength  of  Christianity  among  the  freed- 
men made  the  government  more  opposed  to  it. 

For  all  these  reasons,  Christians  were  objects  The  govem- 
of  pretty  constant  suspicion  and  frequent  attacks,  "e"*'*  '»'="°" 
Their  condition  was  not  unlike  that  of  revolution- 
ists in  Russia.  At  any  time  they  might  be  ar- 
rested by  the  police  and  accused  before  magis- 
trates, the  charge  usually  being  treason.  They 
were  then  required  to  worship  the  imperial  statues. 
Refusal  meant  cruel  torture  and  often,  for  the 
obstinate,  death. 


36     GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


Periods  of 
persecution 


3\\ 


End  of 
persecution 


Persecution  varied  greatly  in  different  times  and 
places,  according  to  the  disposition  of  reigning  em- 
perors or  of  local  officials.  Early  in  the  third  cen- 
tury, after  the  sufferings  under  Septimius  Severus, 
there  were  more  than  thirty  years  oT  peacer"  'ThefiT 
came  the  most  terrible  persecution  yet  experienced, 
under  Decius  and  his  two  successors.  They  used  all 
their  power  in  a  systematic  and  ruthless  attempt  to 
stamp  out  Christianity  all  over  the  empire.  Thou- 
sands of  Christians  were  martyred,  and  thousands 
also  fell  away  from  the  faith.  But  from  this  fire 
the  Church  came  out  purified  and  stronger  than 
ever,  and  it  made  great  advances  in  the  long  peace 
from  268  to  303.  Then  came,  under  Diocletian, 
the  last  persecution.  This  was  savage  but  in  most 
places  short-lived,  and  did  not  seriously  weaken 
the  Church.  In  311  an  edict  of  toleration  for 
Christianity,  containing  something  like  a  confes- 
sion that  the  persecution  had  been  a  mistake  and 
a  failure,  was  issued  by  Galeriug,  ruling  in  the 
East.  In  313  another  edict,  by  Constantine  and 
Licinius,  emperors  in  East  and  West,  allowed  en- 
tire religious  liberty. 


Constantine 

and 
Christianity 


2.  After  Constcmtme  ^ 

Before  Constantine  the  Church  was  in  conflict 
with  the  world;  after  him  it  was  on  the  throne  of 
the  world.    WTiat  his  motives  for  his  action  toward 


*  Constantine  was  not  strictly  the  first  to  give  toleration  to  Chris- 
tianity, for  Galerius  did  this  two  years  before  him.  But  his  name 
is  usually  associated  with  the  great  change  in  Christianity's  position, 
ior  reasons  which  will  be  clear  as  we  go  on. 


THE  ANCIENT  CHURCH 


37 


Christianity  were  is  somewhat  a  mystery.  No  "'^  motives 
doubt  he  saw  that  it  could  not  be  conquered,  but 
was  surely  going  to  be  a  greater  power  in  the  em- 
pire, and  therefore  wished  to  have  the  Christians 
on  his  side.  At  the  time  when,  as  he  said,  he  saw 
the  blazing  cross  in  the  sky  with  the  words  "Hoc 
vince, "  ^  he  was  at  war  with  rivals  for  the  throne, 
and  needed  all  the  support  he  could  get.  No 
doubt,  also,  he  had  some  real  personal  belief  in 
Christianity,  or  at  least  sympathy  with  it. 

At  all  events,  it  was  Constantine,  emperor  in  the  "'s  actions 
West  after  312  and  sole  emperor  after  323,  who 
did  far  more  than  anyone  else  to  cause  the  vast 
and  sudden  change  that  came.  First  he  gave  gen- 
eral religious  liberty,  chiefly  for  the  benefit  of 
Christians.  Then  he  showed  great  favor  to  Chris- 
tianity, making  grants  from  his  treasury  for  the 
building  of  churches  and  the  support  of  the  clergy, 
relieving  them  of  taxation,  and  replacing  the 
eagles  on  his  standards  with  the  labarum,-  the 
sign  of  Christ.  Finally  he  entered  actively  into 
the  affairs  of  the  Church,  endeavoring  to  settle 
doctrinal  disputes,  and  in  general  exercising  au- 
thority among  the  Christians.  All  this  time  he  was 
not  openly  a  Christian,  for  he  would  not  receive 
baptism  till  just  before  his  death.  But  his  interest 
and  favor  gave  to  Christianity  great  prestige. 

The  new  position  of  Christianity  at  once  brought  Effect  en  the 
rapid  growth,  some  of  which  was  for  its  good  and  cons"antine's 
some  not.     Freed  from  persecution,  and  also  dis-        favor 


1  By  this  conquer. 
4 


38     GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


Missions; 

(1)  Martin  of 

Tours 


(2)  Ulfilas 


(3)  Patrick 


ciplined  and  purified  by  its  trials,  the  Church 
could  and  did  push  forward  its  work  with  great 
power,  in  both  old  and  new  fields.  On  the  other 
hand,  because  the  religion  patronized  by  the  em- 
peror became  fashionable,  thousands  crowded  into 
the  churches  who  were  not  Christians  at  heart, 
and  therefore  did  harm  to  the  cause  of  Christ. 

Sweeping  rapidly  forward  into  new  fields,  Chris- 
tian missions  made  great  gains.  In  central  France 
in  the  fourth  century,  Martin,  bishop  of  Tours,  a 
man  of  great  activity  and  powerful  natural  elo- 
quence, of  constant  charity  and  courageous  zeal, 
carried  on  a  wide  and  fruitful  work  through  his 
own  tireless  labors  and  through  disciples  trained 
in  monasteries  which  he  established.  At  the  same 
time  Ulfilas  had  a  long  and  heroic  career  as  the 
apostle  to  the  Goths  about  the  lower  Danube.  He 
translated  a  large  part  of  the  Bible  into  their 
tongue,  having  previously  devised  an  alphabet  for 
it,  and  thus  made  it  for  the  first  time  a  written 
language.  This  was  the  first  translation  of  the 
Bible  into  any  of  the  Germanic  family  of  lan- 
guages, to  which  English  belongs.  It  was  also  the 
beginning  of  Germanic  literature.  Because  of 
Ulfilas'  work,  the  Goths,  when  they  captured  Rome 
in  410,  were  Christians. 

In  the  next  century  Christianity  was  carried 
to  the  westernmost  limit  of  the  known  world,  by 
Patrick.  In  the  mist  of  legends  which  surrounds 
him,  we  can  clearly  see  a  man  who  had  the  true 
spirit  of  Christ  and  who  laid  enduring  foundations 
of  Christianity  among  a  wild  people.    Patrick  was 


THE  ANCIENT  CHURCH  39 

born  somewhere  in  Britain,  of  Christian  parents. 
There  was  Christianity  in  Britain  as  early  as  the 
third  century,  probably  planted  by  Christians  in 
the  Roman  army.  In  his  boyhood  he  was  cap- 
tured by  Irish  pirates,  and  held  a  while  in  slavery 
among  them.  x\lone  and  in  bondage,  he  became 
much  more  deeply  Christian  than  he  had  been 
before.  He  escaped  to  France,  lived  for  a  time 
in  a  monastery,  and  then  returned  to  Britain. 
But  he  was  constantl}^  haunted  by  the  thought 
of  the  need  of  the  Irish  for  Christ:  ''I  fancied 
I  heard  the  voice  of  the  folk  who  were  near  the 
wood  of  Fochlad,  nigh  to  the  western  sea."  At 
length,  after  some  years  of  study  in  France,  he 
went  to  Ireland  in  433.  There  for  thirty  years  he 
was  a  missionary  of  singular  fidelity,  courage  and 
success. 

From  Ireland  in  the  sixth  century  the  famous  (4)  coiumba 
Columba  led  a  company  of  monks  to  a  little  island  scouuh  monks 
off  the  west  coast  of  Scotland,  lona.  From  the 
monastery  established  there  Columba  and  his  fol- 
lowers went  out  to  their  missions.  Their  work 
spread  widely  in  Scotland  and  in  England,  and 
struck  deep  into  the  continent,  in  France,  southern 
Germany  and  Switzerland.  No  part  of  early  Chris- 
tian history  shines  more  brightly  than  the  story 
of  these  Scottish  monks.  Nothing  could  daunt  or 
discourage  their  zeal  to  preach  Christ.  Their 
Christian  teaching  had  an  apostolic  simplicity  not 
found  elsewhere,  and  their  lives  a  rare  purity  and 
Christlikeness. 

Along  with  all  this  true  missionary  work,  we 


M 


40    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

Conversion  of  fjj^^j  jj^  -j^j^g  f^f-j^j^  century  One  of  the  most  striking 
Franks  cases  of  the  superficial  Christianizing  of  a  people. 
Clovis,  king  of  the  Franks,  had  a  Christian  wife 
who  had  long  tried  to  make  him  a  Christian.  Hard 
pressed  in  battle,  he  vowed  to  become  a  Christian 
if  Christ  would  help  him  to  win.  He  won,  declared 
himself  a  Christian,  and  compelled  his  people  to 
accept  Christianity.  On  Christmas  Day,  496,  he 
and  three  thousand  of  his  warriors,  says  the  chron- 
icler Gregory  of  Tours,  were  baptized.  So  the 
strongest  of  the  Germanic  tribes  became  nominally 
Christian.  But  the  history  of  Clovis  and  of  the 
Franks  for  years  afterwards  shows  that  this  Chris- 
tianity was  hardly  skin-deep. 
Growth  of  the  Another  kind  of  church  extension  which  was  a 
imperial  favor  doubtful  benefit  was  that  which  was  accomplished 
through  the  power  of  the  empire.  The  emperors 
after  Constantine  followed  and  bettered  his  ex- 
ample in  regard  to  Christianity.  They  showed  it 
favor,  and  also  asserted  their  authority  in  church 
affairs,  especially  in  the  disputes  about  Christian 
belief  which  were  so  frequent  in  the  fourth  cen- 
tury. Thus  Christianity  was  practically  the  estab- 
lished religion  of  the  empire,  though  it  was  not 
such  officially.  This,  of  course,  meant  a  constant 
rapid  increase  of  professing  Christians,  many  peo- 
ple taking  up  with  the  religion  just  because  it  was 
approved  by  the  emperors,  without  any  real  in- 
terest in  it. 
Imperial  favor  toward  Christianity  suffered  a 
iOCV)  short  check  under  Julian  (361-363),  who  made  an 
earnest  but  vain  attempt  to  revive  paganism.    The 


THE  ANCIENT  CHURCH 


41 


story  is  told  that  as  he  was  dying,  he  realized  that 
his  opposition  to  Christianity  had  come  to  nothing, 
and  said,  "Thou  hast  conquered,  Galilaean."  A 
few  years  later  (380),  Theodosius,  emperor  in  the 
East,  a  Christian,  decreed  that  all  subjects  of  the 
empire  must  accept  the  Christian  faith  as  stated 
in  the  creed  of  Nicea,  adopted  by  the  Church  in 
325.^  Theodosius  continued  this  policy  when  he 
became  ruler  of  the  whole  Roman  world,  in  392. 
Thus  Christianity  became  part  of  the  law  of  the 
empire.  All  its  inhabitants  had  to  profess  them- 
selves Christians,  under  penalty  of  outlawry  for 
not  so  doing.  This,  of  course,  gave  the  death  blow 
to  paganism  in  the  empire.  Many  temples  and 
idols  were  destroyed,  and  by  A.  D.  400,  pagan  wor- 
ship was  gone.  It  looks  like  a  great  triumph  for 
Christianity  that  the  religion  which  had  been  un- 
der persecution  less  than  a  century  before  should 
now  be  the  only  lawful  religion  in  the  empire. 
Really,  it  was  not  such  a  great  triumph,  for  the 
new  state  of  things  meant  that  in  the  Church  there 
w^ere  many  people  who  were  not  Christians  at 
heart.  This  action  of  Theodosius  was  the  begin- 
ning of  the  use  of  governmental  power  to  compel 
people  to  profess  Christianity,  a  thing  which  has 
done  the  religion  of  Jesus  much  harm. 


Christianity 

made 
compulsory 


QUESTIONS  FOR  STUDY 

1.  What  were  the  internal  causes  of  the  decline  of  the 
Roman  Empire? 

2.  What  was   the   effect   of  the   German  migrations  in 
western  Europe? 

1  See  p.  50. 


42     GROWTH  OF  TPIE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

3.  What  were  the  relations  of  the  Germans  to  the 
Roman  Empire? 

4.  How  did  the  Eastern  and  Western  Empires  arise? 

5.  How  far  did  Christianity  spread  in  the  second  and 
third  centuries?  How  much  did  it  spread  in  various  social 
classes? 

6.  How  was  this  growth  of  Christianity  brought 
about? 

7.  Who  were  Tertullian  and  Origen,  and  what  did  they 
do  for  Christianity? 

8.  Why  did  the  Eoman  Government  persecute  Chris- 
tians? 

9.  Describe  the  persecution.     How  was  it  ended? 

10.  What  was  Constantine's  personal  attitude  toward 
Christianity?     "What   were   his   reasons   for  giving  it  lib- 

•erty? 

11.  What  did  Constantine  do  toward  Christianity  and 
the  Church?  What  was  the  effect  of  his  action  upon 
the  Church? 

12.  What  advances  did  the  Churcli  make  in  A.  D.  313- 
590? 

13.  Describe  the  work  of  Ulfilas,  Patrick,  and  Columba 
and  his  followers. 

14.  How  were  the  Franks  converted? 

15.  How  did  the  emperors  after  Constantine  treat 
Christianity? 

16.  What  action  did  Theodosius  take  toward  Chris- 
tianity? 

READING 

G.  B.  Adams:  ''European  History,"  pp.  101-151,  on  the 
Roman  Empire. 

Foakes- Jackson :  "History  of  the  Christian  Church  to 
A.  D.  461, ' '  chs.  IV,  V,  XI,  XII,  XV,  XVII,  XX. 

Fisher:  ''History  of  the  Christian  Church,"  Period  II, 
eh.  I;    Period  III,  ch.  I. 

Gwatkin:  "Early  Church  History,"  Vol.  I,  chs.  Ill,  VII- 
XIII;    Vol.  II,  chs.  XVIII-XXIII,  XXV,  XXVI. 


THE  ANCIENT  CHURCH  43 

^    Farrar:    "Lives  of  the  Fathers,"  Vol.  1,  on  Justin,  Ter- 

tullian,  Origen,  Martin  of  Tours. 

Workman:    ''Persecution  in  the  Early  Church." 
MacLear:    "Apostles  of  Mediaeval  Europe,"  on  Patrick 

and  Columba. 

MacEwen:     "A    History    of    the    Church    in    Scotland," 

Vol.  I,  on  Columba,  and  his  followers. 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  ANCIENT  CHURCH  (Continued) 

(A.  D.  100-590) 
B.    LIFE   IN   THE   CHURCH 

Eflfectof  While  the  persecution  lasted,  it  largely  shaped 

^thecharactr"  ^^^  Church's  inoral  character.  Only  earnest  and 
of  the  faithful  people  would  profess  Christianity  when 
to  do  so  brought  on  one  the  hostility  of  the  gov- 
ernment. In  this  way  the  life  of  the  Christians 
was  kept  on  a  high  moral  level.  In  the  times  of 
peace,  however,  many  entered  the  Church,  and 
among  these  some  of  light  character,  whose  pres- 
ence lowered  the  average  of  Christian  conduct. 
Then  when  persecution  began  again,  its  terrors 
caused  these  weaker  ones  to  desert  the  cause  of 
Christ.  Thus  the  Church  was  purged  of  its  un- 
reliable members,  and  made  more  worthy  of  its 
Lord  and  stronger  for  his  work. 
Character  of  the  In  the  sccoud  and  third  centuries  the  general 
secondand"  character  of  the  Christians  continued  to  be,  as  it 
third  centuries  was  in  the  first,  high  enough  to  distinguish  them 
from  the  world  about  them.  Though  there  were 
serious  blemishes,  on  the  whole  the  Christians  were 
acknowledged  to  be  of  superior  morality.  Brother- 
liness,  purity,  honesty,  were  characteristic  of  them. 
Their  brotherliness  especially  impressed  a  world  in 
which  this  was  new.  Cases  of  need  were  frequent 
among   them.     Many  poor  people  were  in   their 

44 


THE  ANCIENT  CHURCH  45 

number.  Persecution  made  many  widows  and 
orphans,  and  to  many  men  brought  confiscation 
of  goods.  To  meet  these  needs  Christian  love 
flowed  forth  freely.  Nor  was  it  confined  to  help- 
ing those  who  held  the  faith.  Often  in  times  of 
general  distress,  for  example,  in  pestilence,  the 
Christians  cared  for  the  needy  without  distinc- 
tion, when  no  one  else  would  do  so. 

Constantine's  action  put  the  Church  in  an  en- The  favor  of  the 
tirely  different  situation.    Its  new  position  of  free-    some  moral 
dom  and  imperial  favor,  of  the  friendship  of  the       decline 
world,  was  not  altogether  good  for  its  life.     So 
many  people  of  all  sorts  crowded  into  the  churches 
that  it  was  found  impossible  to  keep  up  the  care- 
ful  examination   and   training   of   candidates   for 
membership  which  had  previously  been  the  rule. 
Many  found  places  in  the  churches  who  were  really 
pagans,  and  whose  lives  were  a  reproach.    This  v/as 
true  both  in  the  older  seats  of  Christianity  and 
on  its  mission  fields.     Thus  there  came  a  decline 
of  the  general  level  of  character  in  the  Church. 

To  meet  this  situation,  the  Church  made  large  Discipline  used 
use  of  its  discipline,  that  is  its  method  of  inquir-  »« remedy  this 
ing  into  and  punishing  offenses  against  morality. 
Instead  of  instructing  people  in  Christian  living 
before  they  came  into  membership,  the  Church 
schooled  them  after  they  were  in.  Punishments 
were  imposed  to  repress  immorality  and  train 
church  members.  For  minor  offenses  these  pun- 
ishments were  penances,  vsuch  as  public  confessions, 
fastings  and  prayersj^  and  for  graver  offenses  ex- 
communication. "*^' 


46     GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

Monasticism  j^  ^jjjg  time,  when  there  was  much  worldliness 
and  evil  in  the  Church,  many  Christians  became 
eager  for  a  higher  goodness  than  they  saw  around 
them.  Thus  arose  a  form  of  life  which  was  des- 
tined to  be  one  of  the  greatest  forces  in  the  history 
Its  motive;  of  Christianity,  that  is,  monasticism.  What  made 
salvation^  men  become  monks  was  a  desire  for  salvation.  For 
two  reasons  the  life  of  monks  appeared  a  surer 
way  of  salvation  than  the  life  of  other  men. 

(1)  by  separa-  Jt  was  a  life  Separated  from  the  world,  and 
'*'"worid  therefore  free  from  the  hindrances  to  Christian  liv- 
ing found  in  the  world.  In  the  early  Christian 
centuries.  Christians  were  living  in  a  heathen  so- 
ciety, which  constantly  put  great  temptations  in 
their  way.  Even  after  society  became  nominally 
Christian,  it  long  remained  practically  heathen,  as 
we  shall  see.  Besides,  Europe  w^as  for  centuries 
in  a  state  of  constant  warfare,  most  unfavorable 
to  Christian  living.  Thus  those  who  earnestly  de- 
sired to  lead  Christian  lives  came  to  think  that  they 
could  do  this  far  better  by  separating  themselves 
from  the  general  life  of  men. 

(2)  by  entire       Sccoudly,  the  monastic  life  gave  opportunity  for 
seif-demai;    ^j^g  pursuit  of  holiuess  by  entire  self-denial.     In 

asceticism  and 

poverty  the  idcas  then  held  about  self-denial  a  large  place 
was  taken  by  what  is  called  asceticism.  This  is  a 
way  of  action  which  appears  in  many  religions. 
Its  fundamental  principle  is  that  evil  resides  in 
matter.  Matter,  of  course,  includes  the  human 
body.  Therefore,  it  was  thought,  holiness  is  at- 
tained by  freeing  the  spirit  as  far  as  possible  from 
the  body ;  and  this  freedom  can  be  gained  by  deny- 


THE  ANCIENT  CHURCH  47 

ing  satisfaction  to  the  desires  of  the  body.  An- 
other form  of  self-denial  which  was  highly  esteemed 
was  complete  poverty,  the  lack  of  all  possessions. 
So  men  came  to  think  that  the  most  truly  religious 
life  was  led  by  those  who  gave  up  all  their  goods, 
had  poor  lodgings,  dressed  uncomfortably,  ate 
scanty  food,  slept  little,  scourged  themselves  sav- 
agely for  penance,  and  were  unmarried.  Only 
thus,  it  was  believed,  could  men  and  women  reach 
the  highest  kind  of  goodness. 

In  the  second  century  there  were  in  the  East,    i 
especially  in  Egypt,   many  hermit  monks,  living    heYml'ts 
in  desert  places,   in  extreme  self-denial,   and  re- 
garded by  Christians  in  general  as  specially  holy 
men.     From  the  East  the  monastic  ideal  spread  to 
the  West  in  the  fourth  century.    There  it  soon  was 
very  popular,  and  many  men  and  women  became 
monks  and  nuns.     In  the  West,  however,  monastic 
life  took  a  different  form  from  that  usual  in  the 
East.     The  typical  monk  of  the  East  was  a  soli-    Eastern  and 
tary,  living  in  extravagant  hardships.    Jerome  tells      ^«s*e"» 

i?  1  •  •  .       ,T         -,  „    ^  monastidsm 

o±  his  sojourn  m  the  desert  of  Chalcis,  of  his  skin 

becoming   "black   as   an   Ethiopian's,"  his   bones 

scarcely  clinging  together,  his  sleepless  nights,  his 

companionship  with  beasts  and  scorpions.    But  the 

typical  monk  of  the  West  was  a  member  of  a  com-  \    ,  i 

munity.     Men  and  women  went  apart  from  a  so-    C'CA0V)\tfS' 

ciety   unfavorable   to    Christian    living,   but   they 

did  not  live  alone.     They  entered  societies  ruled 

by  Christianity,  where  it  would  be  easier  to  lead 

Christian    lives.      In    the    western    part    of    the 

Church  monasticism  was  social,  a  life  of  brother- 


48     GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

hoods  and  sisterhoods,  in  which  all  goods  were  held 
in   common   and  almost   all  things   were   done  in 
common. 
The  Early  in  the  sixth  century  the  famous  Benedic- 

ruie  caused  a  ^^^^  monastic  rule  was  drawn  up  by  Benedict  of 
reform  in  Nursia  in  Italy.  It  soon  became  practically  the 
universal  law  of  Western  monasteries.  Benedict 
saw  that  the  life  of  monks  needed  direction  and 
purifying,  and  sought  to  bring  this  about  by  his 
rule.  This  made  the  monk's  vow  a  vow  for  life, 
so  that  he  was  dead  to  the  world.  It  required  him, 
on  taking  his  vow,  to  surrender  all  his  property. 
It  prescribed  the  virtues  which  a  monk  must  vow 
to  have,  abstinence,  obedience  to  superiors,  silence, 
humility.  It  laid  down  his  duties  in  great  detail, 
dividing  his  time  between  worship,  manual  labor 
in  house  and  field,  and  study.  The  reform  caused 
by  the  rule  gave  to  monastic  life  fresh  popularity, 
resulting  in  the  foundation  of  many  new  monas- 
teries, which  filled  as  fast  as  they  were  built. 

Services  of  the  The  rulc  made  the  monasteries  homes  of  industry 
and  culture  as  well  as  of  devotion  and  self-denial. 
Planted  among  barbarians,  as  many  of  them  were, 
they  were  agencies  of  civilization.  They  gave  ob- 
ject lessons  in  agriculture  and  handicrafts  and 
building.  They  preserved  and  multiplied  books  ^ 
and  encouraged  study  and  writing.  In  their 
schools  they  provided  most  of  the  education  that 
was  to  be  had  at  the  time.     They  were  also  the 


world 


^  In  this  time  copies  of  books  could  be  made  only  by  writing  them 
out.  By  doing  much  of  this  the  monks  were  great  protectors  of 
literature. 


THE  ANCIENT  CHURCH  49 

chief  charitable  institutions  of  the  time,  caring 
for  the  sick  and  the  poor..  Above  all,  they  were 
powerful  instruments  of  missionary  work.  From 
many  of  them  streams  of  missionaries  poured  out, 
and  for  hundreds  of  years  missions  were  carried 
on  chiefly  through  monasteries.  They  did  in  their 
day  very  much  what  foreign  mission  stations  do 
in  ours. 

C.   THE  BELIEF   OF   THE   CHURCH 

In  this  period  the  Church  did  much  thinking  Gnosticism  led 
about  the  chief  matters  of  its  belief,  and  ex-  ma'kh^g 
pressed  its  conclusions  in  the  great  creeds.  This 
work  began  in  the  second  century.  Then  Gnosti- 
cism ^  became  widespread  and  powerful,  particu- 
larly in  the  East.  Its  Christian  elements  gave  it 
something  of  a  Christian  appearance,  yet  it  was 
really  far  from  Christianity.  Thus  it  was  espe- 
cially dangerous.  In  order  to  defend  Christianity 
against  Gnostic  errors,  and  also  to  give  instruc- 
tion to  catechumens,^  short  statements  of  what 
Christians   believed   were   framed.     Creeds   much  The  Apostles' 

Creed 

like  the  Apostles'  Creed  appeared  in  several 
places  during  the  second  century.  Evidently 
something  substantially  the  same  as  this  was 
generally  accepted  as  the  Church's  creed  in  this 
time,  though  no  such  statement  had  yet  been 
adopted  by  any  body  representing  the  whole 
Church. 


1  See  p.   24. 

2  Catechumens  were  people  seeking  admission  to  the  Church,  who 
were  kept  a  while  under  instruction. 


50    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

Thought  and  In  the  contest  with  Gnosticism  the  Church  was 
The  nature"*  ^o^scd  to  deeper  thought  about  its  belief,  especially 
of  Christ  about  the  nature  of  Christ.  Many  Christians  tried 
to  find  an  explanation  of  his  being.  Discussion 
about  him  grew  more  and  more  active,  particularly 
in  the  East,  where  the  Greek  influence  made  men 
keenly  interested  in  such  questions.  Early  in  the 
fourth  century  thought  on  this  subject  issued  in 
the  great  Arian  contro^'ex^-  Arius,  a  presbyter 
of  Alexandria,  taught  that  Christ  was  neither  God 
nor  man,  but  a  created  being  intermediate  between 
divinity  and  humanity,  a  kind  of  demigod.  Arian- 
ism  spread  rapidly  in  the  East,  and  the  dispute 
over  it  rent  the  Church  in  twain,  and  even  caused 
serious  disturbances  of  public  order. 
Nicene  council  To  bring  about  pcacc,  Constantine  called  the 
^  an  ere  ^^^^  general  council  ^  of  the  church  at  Nicea  in 
Asia  Minor,  in  325.  Here  Athanasius,  a  deacon 
of  Alexandria,  was  the  great  opponent  of  Arius 
and  his  party,  and  carried  the  council  with  him. 
By  its  decision  the  Church  affirmed  the  divinity  of 
Christ,  declaring  that  he  was  ''of  the  same  sub- 
stance" with  the  Father.  While  there  was  keen 
theological  dispute  in  the  council,  what  really 
caused  the  decision  was  not  argument.  It  was 
Athanasius'  appeal  to  a  religious  conviction  in 
the  hearts  of  its  members,  the  conviction  which 
can  be  expressed  thus:  "Jesus  whom  I  know  as 
my   Redeemer   cannot   be  less   than    God."     The 

*  A  general  council  consisted  of  all  the  bishops  of  the  Church. 
Such  a  council  is  called  also  "ecumenical."  At  Nicea  over  three 
hundred  bishops  were  present.  On  the  office  of  bishop  in  this  period, 
Bee  Section  E   in  this  chapter. 


THE  ANCIENT  CHURCH 


51 


councirs  decision  forms  the  greater  part  of  the 
Nicene  Creed,  the  teaching  of  which  has  been 
accepted  ever  since  throughout  the  Christian 
Church. 

The  question  of  the  divinity  of  Christ  having 
been  settled,  discussion  moved  to  the  subject  of  the 
relation  of  the  divine  and  human  natures  in  him. 
Differences  of  opinion  were  bitter,  and  some  divi- 
sions in  the  church  resulted.^  The  fourth  general 
council,  at  Chalcedon  in  451,  made  the  final  ut- 
terance of  the  Church  on  this  subject,  declaring 
that  in  Christ  the  two  natures,  divine  and  human, 
existed  in  full  integrity. 

Great  truths  that  are  vital  to  Christian  faith, 
those  of  the  incarnation  and  the  trinity,  were  seen 
and  expressed  by  the  Church  in  this  ''age  of  the 
councils."  These  expressions  have  ever  since  re- 
ceived the  assent  of  Christendon.  With  this  gain 
there  came  a  loss.  All  this  discussion  of  state- 
ments of  doctrine  inclined  men  to  think  that  the 
most  important  thing  in  Christianity  was  to  hold 
correct  definitions  of  Christian  truth.  The  test  of 
a  man's  Christianity  was  not  so  much  his  loyalty 
to  Christ  in  spirit  and  conduct  as  his  agreement 
with  what  the  Church  had  declared  to  be  right 
doctrine,  that  is,  his  orthodoxy.  One  who  was  not 
orthodox  was  cast  out  as  a  heretic,  however  faith- 
ful to  Christ  his  life.^ 

Two  great  men  who  deeply  affected  the  thought 


Creed  of 
Chalcedon 


Emphasis  on 
orthodoxy 


1  See  p.   62. 

2  For    example    take    the    case    of    Nestorius,    a    man    of   blameless 
character,  condemned  in  431  solely  for  theological  opinions. 


52    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


Jerome 


Jerome's 

translation  of 

the  Bible 


and  all  the  life  of  the  Church  may  be  noticed  here. 
These  are  Jerome  and  Augustine. 

Jerome  was  born  about  340,  in  Pannonia,  the 
country  about  modern  Vienna.  His  father  was 
well  to  do,  and  gave  his  son  an  excellent  educa- 
tion. He  became  a  Christian  when  about  twenty- 
five  years  old,  while  he  was  a  student  at  Rome. 
For  several  years  he  lived  in  Aquileia  with  a  com- 
pany of  friends,  devoted  to  the  study  of  the  Scrip- 
tures and  to  practices  of  self-denial.  Leaving  them 
because  of  the  remarkable  faculty  for  quarreling 
which  he  displayed  all  his  life,  he  passed  several 
years  as  a  monk  in  the  desert  near  Antioch.  Here 
he  endured  great  hardships,^  but  still  continued 
his  studies.  These  he  also  kept  up  during  a  resi- 
dence at  Rome  which  followed.  By  reason  of  his 
earnest  Christianity  and  his  intellectual  power,  and 
also  of  his  wit,  of  which  his  letters  are  full,  he 
exerted  great  influence  in  the  Roman  aristocracy, 
particularly  on  some  noblewomen.  In  385  the  en- 
thusiasm for  monastic  life  which  he  had  long  felt 
drove  him  to  take  up  his  abode  in  a  monk's  cell  in 
Bethlehem. 

Here  he  lived  until  his  death  in  420,  constantly 
studying  and  writing.  Chief  among  his  works  was 
his  translation  of  the  Bible.  The  Old  Testament 
was  rendered  for  the  first  time  into  Latin,  out  of 
the  Hebrew,  and  the  existing  Latin  translation  of 
the  New  Testament  was  carefully  revised.  Thus 
Jerome  gave  to  the  world  one  of  the  most  largely 
used   of   all   versions    of   the    Scriptures.     Later 


iSee  p.   47. 


THE  ANCIENT  CHURCH  53 

called  the  Vulgate,  it  was  the  Bible  of  the  Middle 
Ages.  It  is  still  regarded  by  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic Church  as  the  authoritative  text  of  the  Bible. 
In  addition  to  this  work  he  wrote  commentaries 
on  books  of  the  Bible,  theological  treatises,  books 
in  praise  of  monasticism,  and  countless  let- 
ters. 

Augustine's  early  life  is  described  in  the  won-  Augustine's 
derf ul  book  called  his  Confessions.  He  was  born 
in  354  in  northern  Africa,  near  Carthage.  His 
mother  was  an  earnest  Christian,  but  he  did  not 
follow  her  example  in  his  youth.  At  thirty  he  was 
a  brilliant  teacher  of  rhetoric  and  oratory  in  Carth- 
age, possessed  of  remarkable  power  of  thought 
and  enjoying  a  high  reputation.  Though  he  had 
thought  much  about  religious  matters,  he  was 
practically  without  religion,  and  he  was  living  im- 
morally, indulging  his  strong  passions. 

At  this  time  he  went  to  Rome  to  teach,  and  His  conversion 
thence  to  Milan.  Here  the  preaching  of  Ambrose, 
the  great  bishop  of  the  city,  affected  him  deeply. 
He  began  to  study  Christianity,  and  thus  became 
almost  persuaded.  But  he  was  not  yet  ready  to 
give  up  the  satisfaction  of  his  base  desires.  One 
day  a  Christian  friend  told  him  about  Antony, 
the  famous  Egyptian  monk,  and  how  two  of  his 
friends  had  been  converted  by  reading  of  Antony's 
career.  Strangely  moved,  Augustine  rushed  into 
the  garden  of  his  house,  and  there  he  heard  a 
child  in  a  neighboring  house  calling  out,  ''Tolle, 
lege;  tolle,  lege"  (take,  read).  He  took  up  a 
volume  of  Paul's  Epistles,  and  as  he  opened  it  his 

5 


influence 


54    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

eyes  fell  upon  Rom.  13  :  13,  14.  This  caused  him 
to  decide  for  Christ,  and  in  the  year  387  he  was 
received  into  the  Church.  Shortly  afterwards  his 
mother  died,  having  seen  the  fruit  of  a  life  of 
prayer  for  her  son.  His  conversion  gave  to  Chris- 
tianity its  greatest  man  between  Paul  and  Luther, 
one  whose  influence  is  still  working  in  both  the 
Protestant  and  the  Roman  Catholic  parts  of  Chris- 
tendom. 
His  work  and  Eight  years  after  his  conversion  Augustine  be- 
came bishop  of  Hippo,  one  of  the  most  important 
towns  of  Africa.  Here  he  spent  thirty-five  years 
in  great  devotion  to  the  people  under  his  charge 
and  in  the  writing  of  many  books  on  various  as- 
pects of  Christian  truth.  He  had  great  difficulties 
with  the  Donatists,  a  very  large  body  of  Christians 
who  were  separated  from  the  Catholic  Church  ^ 
and  had  a  church  of  their  own.  The  separation 
had  occurred  many  years  before,  because  the 
Donatists  thought  that  the  Church  was  too  leni- 
ent toward  those  who  had  betrayed  the  faith  in 
time  of  persecution,  insomuch  that  it  had  ceased 
to  be  the  true  Church.  By  argument  and  by  the 
influence  which  his  character  gave  him,  Augustine 
won  back  some  of  them.  Unfortunately  the  un- 
reasonableness and  violence  of  some  others  led  him 
to  sanction  the  use  of  the  emperor's  power  to  com- 
pel them  to  return  to  the  Church.  His  relations 
with  the  Donatists  caused  him  to  think  much  about 
t:ie  nature  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  so  he 
came   to   work   out   his   famous   doctrine   of   the 

iSee  p.  58. 


THE  ANCIENT  CHURCH  55 

Church.^  This  doctrine  lay  at  the  foundation  of 
the  great  structure  of  the  Roman  Church  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  Upon  it  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
still  builds. 

Augustine's  influence  soon  spread  far  beyond 
his  African  bishopric,  all  over  the  western  part  of 
the  Church.  It  was  shown  in  his  great  doctrinal 
controversy  with  Pelagius,  in  which,  after  long 
and  widespread  discussion,  his  views  prevailed. 
Here  Augustine  maintained  man's  absolute  need 
of  divine  grace  for  righteous  character.  This  em- 
phasis on  the  grace  of  God  caused  Luther  and  Cal- 
vin to  esteem  him  very  highly.  Protestant  the- 
ology has  followed  their  example  in  being  in- 
fluenced by  and  honoring  Augustine. 


D.   THE   WORSHIP   OF   THE   CHURCH 

At  the  end  of  this  period.   Christian  worship  Worship  more 

jorate  a 
formal 


was  very  different  from  what  it  was  at  the  begin    ^  ^  ora  e  an 


ning.  During  this  time  it  steadily  grew  more 
elaborate  and  more  formal.  Liturgies,  with  fixed 
orders  of  service  and  forms  of  prayer,  were  com- 
posed and  largely  used.  The  musical  element  of 
worship  was  much  developed.  Choirs  were  intro- 
duced, and  antiphonal  singing.  From  the  second 
century  the  writing  and  use  of  hymns  greatly  in- 
creased. 

This  tendency  in  worship  naturally  grew 
stronger  after  Christianity  received  its  freedom. 
Then  church  buildings  became  much  more  numer- 
ous, larger,  and  more  decorative.     In  the  service 

1  See  p.   60. 


56    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

there  Avas  increased  use  cf  whatever  gave  dignity 
and  impressiveness.  Augustine  tells  how  pro- 
foundly he  was  affected  by  the  service  in  Ambrose's 
magnificent  church  in  ]\Iilan,  by  the  solemn  music, 
the  stately  ceremonial,  the  crowds  of  reverent 
worshipers,  and  the  preaching  of  the  great 
bishop. 

Paganism  in       Another    tendency   marks   the   worship    of    the 

^rJhip"      Church  in  this  time,  that  is,  the  entrance  of  pagan 

elements.     This   came  about  because  the   Church 

lived  in  the  midst  of  paganism,  until  about  A.  D. 

400,^  and  because  after  Constantine  many  entered 

Saint  worship  {^  who  wcrc  really  pagans  under  the  surface.  Saint 
worship  is  the  chief  example  of  this  tendency.  It 
was  natural  that  veneration  should  be  paid  to 
martyrs  and  notable  monastics  and  other  men  and 
women  famed  for  holiness.  Among  people  who 
had  been  accustomed  to  the  worship  of  gods  of 
towns  or  sacred  places,  and  who  were  not  thor- 
oughly Christianized,  this  veneration  quickly 
passed  over  into  a  worship.  The  saints  came 
to  be  regarded  as  something  like  lesser  deities, 
Avhose  intercession  availed  with  God.     Places  con- 

?.  .       nected  with  their  lives  were  considered  especially 

\\U^  \^^i^^ sacred.      Pilgrimages    to    such    places    naturally 
-^     Ir^ .  followed.     To  venerate  relics,  or  material  objects 

I\e\  V  CS  connected  with  the  saints,  parts  of  their  bodies  or 

property,  and  to  believe  that  in  them  was  a  power 
to  work  miracles,  came  easily  to  those  in  whom 
paffan  superstition  still  remained.     The  causes  of 

Mariolatry      ^     ^  '■  .       ■,      -,  j    •      xi 

saint  worship  were  particularly  present  m  the  case 

1  See  p.  41. 


THE  ANCIENT  CHURCH  57 

of  the  Virgin  Mary,  whose  worship  began  late  in 
this  period. 

Both  these  tendencies  affected  greatly  the  cen-  change  in  the 
tral  act  of  worship,  the  Lord's  Supper,  or  Euchar-  ^"^'^  ^"^^^ 
ist,  as  it  was  called  from  the  second  century.    This 
became    a   stately    and    gorgeous    ceremony,    w^th 
fixed  rituals  and  much  care  for  details.     And  un- 
der the  influence  of  pagan  worship,  of  which  sac-     N\^S^ 
rifice  was  the  chief  element,  the  sacrament  came 
to  be  regarded  as  a  sacrifice,  offered  by  the  priest 
for  the  benefit  of  the  people,  efficacious  for  their 
salvation.^ 

Although  this  way  of  celebrating  the  Lord's  Preaching 
Supper  tended  to  make  preaching  of  less  impor- 
tance, the  age  had  great  preachers.  Among  them 
were  Ambrose  of  Milan,  a  man  brave  enough  to 
forbid  the  emperor  Theodosius  to  enter  his  church 
until  he  had  repented  of  his  brutal  massacre  of 
the  Thessalonians,  and  John  of  Constantinople, 
whose  eloquence  caused  him  to  be  known  by  the 
nickname  Chrysostom,  ''golden-mouthed." 

E.   THE   ORGANIZATION   OF   THE   CHURCH 
1.  The  Development  of  the  Orgomization 

In  the  first  century,  as  we  saw,  the  churches 
were  independent  communities  governed  by  groups 
of  elders  or  bishops  and  of  deacons.  But  very 
soon  a  change  began  by  which  each  church  came 
to  have  one  office-bearer  over  it.     This  was  per- 


1  From  the  fifth  century  the  sacrament  was  often  called  the  Mass 
in  the  West.     This  name  is  associated  with  the  idea  of  sacrifice. 


58    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

f ectly  natural,  for  one  man  can  manage  affairs  and 
''^V^**^*"^  give  leadership  better  than  several.  Thus  grad- 
ually one  of  the  men  called  elders  or  bishops  rose 
above  the  rest,  and  was  called  the  bishop  of  the 
church,  the  others  being  called  only  elders  or 
presbyters.  This  bishop  was  like  a  modern  pas- 
tor. So  arose  the  threefold  ministry,  of  bishop, 
presbyters  and  deacons. 
Rise  of  the        There  came  also  a  change  in  the  relations  of  the 

Catholic  Church    in  xxi,  j  a.  xi?i 

churches,  in  the  second  century  a  sort  oi  loose 
federation  of  churches  grew  up,  having  as  com- 
mon bonds  one  form  of  belief,  expressed  in  con- 
fessions much  like  the  Apostles'  Creed,  and  one 
form  of  local  church  government,  that  just  men- 
tioned. These  churches  called  themselves  the 
Catholic  Church,  catholic  meaning  universal. 
There  were  some  churches  which  differed  from 
the  great  number  in  belief  or  government.  These 
were  regarded  as  heretical,  outside  the  Catholic 
Church.  Thus  the  Church,  instead  of  being  a 
simple  brotherhood  in  Christ,  as  in  the  apostolic 
age,  became  a  federation  defined  by  a  rule  of  faith 
and  of  government.  After  the  creeds  were  adopted 
by  the  councils,  the  lines  against  heretics  were 
drawn  even  more  tightly,  for  now  there  were  pre- 
cise statements  of  faith  which  could  be  made  tests 
of  membership  in  the  Catholic  Church. 
Qergyand  Changes  took  place  also  in  the  position  of  the 
ministry.  The  distinction  between  clergy  and  lay- 
men, unknown  in  the  apostolic  age,  was  gradually 
marked.  The  bishops,  presbyters  and  deacons 
were  separated  in  rank  from  the  members  of  the 


THE  ANCIENT  CHURCH 


59 


Priests 


Celibacy 


churches.  As  the  sacrificial  idea  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  grew  up,  the  clergy  were  more  and  more 
frequently  called  priests.  The  office  of  the  bishop 
was  magnified.  He  was  thought  to  have  author- 
ity directly  from  God  enabling  him  to  teach 
Christian  truth  rightly.  Sometimes  he  was  re- 
garded as  empowered  to  give  God's  forgiveness. 
The  growth  of  the  idea  that  asceticism  was  the  road 
to  holiness  caused  the  belief  that  the  clergy  ought 
to  be  unmarried.  This  was  made  law  in  the 
Church  in  the  West  in  the  fourth  century. 

We  have  seen  in  the  local  churches  a  process  of 
centralization,  by  which  one  office-bearer  instead 
of  several  came  to  be  over  a  church.  Other  steps 
in  centralization  followed.  As  the  number  of 
Christians  grew,  the  bishop  of  a  town  would  have  The  diocesan 
several  churches  in  the  town  and  the  surrounding  '^  °^ 
region  under  him,  instead  of  one.  Each  of  these 
would  be  cared  for  by  a  presbyter,  the  bishop  hav- 
ing oversight  of  the  whole  district  or  "diocese." 
Then  the  bishops  of  larger  towns  naturally  rose 
to  greater  importance  than  those  of  smaller  places. 
They  were  called  metropolitans,  and  each  of  them  Metropolitans 
had  oversight  of  several  bishops  and  their  dioceses. 
By  a  further  step  in  centralization,  five  bishops 
rose  still  higher,  to  the  rank  of  patriarchs.  These 
were  the  bishops  of  Rome,  Constantinople,  Alexan- 
dria, Jerusalem  and  Antioch. 

Thus   out   of  the   independent   churches  of  the 
apostolic  age  grew  the  Catholic  Church,  having  its 
complete  graded  organization,  its  clergy  possessing  CathoUc  church 
spiritual  authority  over  the  people,  and  its  definite 


Patriarchs 


Complete 

development 

of  the 


60    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


Augustine's  creed,  and  calling  those  who  would  not  accept  its 
°of'the  ^^^^  heretics.  Then  in  the  fifth  century  Augus- 
church  tine  taught  his  doctrine  of  the  nature  of  the  Cath- 
olic Church,  which  was  soon  generally  accepted. 
He  believed  that  the  first  bishops  of  the  Church 
were  appointed  by  the  apostles.  The  apostles 
received  from  Jesus  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
for  the  care  of  the  Church,  and  bequeathed 
them  to  their  successors,  the  first  bishops.  The 
bishops  who  held  their  offices  in  regular  suc- 
cession from  the  first  bishops  possessed  these  gifts 
of  the  Spirit.  Hence  they,  and  only  they,  pre- 
served the  pure,  original  faith  and  could  give  the 
true  Christian  teaching  which  brought  salvation. 
And  they  alone  were  keepers  of  the  true  sacra- 
ments through  which  the  saving  grace  of  God  came 
to  men.  What  made  the  true  Church,  Augustine 
taught,  was  the  possession  of  bishops  standing  in 
this  apostolic  succession.  Only  in  the  Catholic 
Church,  the  Church  of  these  bishops  in  the  apos- 
tolic succession,  was  there  salvation.^ 

Still  another  step  was  taken  in  the  centraliza- 
tion of  the  government  of  the  Church.  Among 
the  five  patriarchs,  the  two  most  prominent  were 
those  of  Rome  and  Constantinople,  the  two  prin- 

Rise  of  the  cipal  citics  of  the  world.  Several  causes  worked 
to  raise  the  Roman  bishop  to  the  highest  place.  By 
far  the  greatest  was  the  fact  that  he  was  bishop 
of  the  ancient  capital  of  the  world.  For  centuries 
authority   over   the   world   had   gone   forth   from 


power  of 

the  Roman 

bishop 

I 


^  Augustine  was  not  the  first  to  teach  these  ideas ;    but  he  worked 
out  the  subject  more  fully  than  anyone  before. 


THE  ANCIENT  CHURCH  61 

Rome.  Inevitably  its  bishop  had  a  power  in  the 
Church  that  no  other  bishop  could  have.  An- 
other cause  was  the  custom  which  grew  up  of  mak- 
ing the  Roman  bishop  a  court  of  appeal  in  church 
disputes.  This  custom  was  made  more  influential 
by  the  fact  that  the  emperors  encouraged  it.  Then 
from  the  fifth  century  the  so-called  Petrine  claim 
was  generally  accepted.  This  is  the  claim  that 
Christ  made  Peter  first  among  the  apostles,  and 
that  Peter  was  the  first  bishop  of  Rome  and  be- 
queathed his  primacy  to  his  successors  there,  so 
that  they  had  a  divine  right  to  first  place  among 
the  bishops.  The  general  acceptance  of  this  made 
conditions  just  the  same  as  though  it  were  true. 
Besides  all  this,  the  Roman  bishops  pursued  a  con- 
sistent policy  of  holding  all  authority  that  they 
had  gained,  claiming  still  more,  and  taking  ad- 
vantage of  every  opportunity  to  use  their  power. 
A  striking  example  of  this  was  the  great  Leo  I 
(440-461),  sometimes  called  the  "first  pope."' 
He  asserted  his  universal  authority  in  the  strongest 
terms  and  claimed  the  right  to  give  commands 
to  bishops  everywhere.  Though  his  claims  were 
utterly  denied  by  the  bishop  of  Constantinople, 
and  met  some  resistance  in  the  West,  his  ag- 
gressiveness greatly  increased  the  power  of  his 
office. 


^The  word  "pope"  is  derived  from  the  late  Latin  word  papa, 
meaning  "father."  This  was  frequently  used  in  the  western  part 
of  the  Church  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  as  the  title  of  any 
bishop.  However,  it  gradually  came  to  be  reserved  for  the  bishop 
of  Rome. 


"L 


Church 


62    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

2.  Churches  Separated  from  the  Catholic  Church 

Certain  churches  separate  from  the  Catholic 
Church  were  formed  in  this  period,  as  results  of 
theological  disputes,  combined  with  political  and 
racial  causes.  In  the  fifth  century  Nestorius, 
patriarch  of  Constantinople,  was  condemned  by 
Nestorian  the  Church  ^  and  banished  by  the  emperor  for 
heretical  opinions  about  the  person  of  Christ.  His 
ideas  were  shared  by  many  Christians  in  the  Syrian 
city  Edessa.  The  ' '  Nestorians "  were  undoubted 
believers  in  Christ.  They  differed  from  the  Cath- 
olic Church  only  by  explaining  Christ's  divinity  in 
a  way  which  was  not  considered  orthodox.  Being 
banished  from  Edessa  for  their  heresy  by  the  em- 
peror, they  went  to  Persia.  There  they  greatly 
strengthened  the  existing  Christianity.  Very  soon 
an  independent  church  was  organized,  headed  by 
an  archbishop,  who  in  498  took  the  title  Patriarch 
of  the  East.  The  Nestorians  were  full  of  mission- 
ary zeal.  Wherever  they  went,  at  their  work, 
on  trading  journeys,  in  search  of  homes,  they  car- 
ried the  gospel.  Thus  their  church  grew  rapidly 
in  Asia. 

In  the  disputes  about  the  nature  of  Christ  there 
arose  another  party  holding  unorthodox  opinions 
on  this  subject.  This  was  called  the  Monophysite 
party,  because  its  members  taught  that  in  Christ 
there  was  one  nature,  instead  of  two,  divine  and 
human,  as  the  creed  of  Chalcedon  said.  Out  of 
this  party,  which  was  very  strong,  arose  two  sep- 


^  At   the   third  general  council,    at  Ephesus   in   431. 


THE  ANCIENT  CHURCH  63 

arate  churclies.     The  Jacobite  Church  was  formed      jacobue 
in  the  sixth  century,  in  Asia  Minor,   Syria  and       ^""'^^ 
Mesopotamia.     In  the  two   last-named  regions  it 
still  supports  a  feeble  life.     The  Coptic  Church, 
comprising    almost    all    the    native    Christians    of 
Egypt,  was  cut  off  as  heretical  by  the  Catholic  coptk  church 
Church  in  the  sixth  century,   and  has  remained 
separate. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  STUDY 

1.  What  was  the  effect  of  the  persecution  on  the  char- 
acter of  the   Christians? 

2.  What  was  the  general  character  of  the  Christians 
in  the  second  and  third  centuries'? 

3.  How  was  the  moral  life  of  the  Church  affected  by 
the  action  of  Constantino  and  his  successors? 

4.  Why  did  men  become  monks? 

5.  What  were  the  provisions   of  the  Benedictine  rule? 

6.  What  services  to  the  world  did  the  monks  render? 

7.  When  did  the  Apostles'  Creed  come  into  use,  and 
why? 

8.  What  was  the  teaching  of  Arius  about  Christ? 

9.  What  was  the  decision  of  the  Council  of  Nicea  on 
this  subject?     Who  was  the  dominant  man  in  the  council? 

10.  What  doctrinal  decision  was  made  at  the  Council 
of  Chalcedon? 

11.  Describe  the  life  and  work  of  Jerome. 

12.  How  did  Augustine  become  a  Christian?  Describe 
his  work  and  influence, 

13.  What  changes  took  place  in  the  worship  of  the 
Church  in  this  period?  What  was  the  cause  of  saint 
worship? 

14.  Describe  the  growth  of  the  ofl&ee  of  bishop. 

15.  Describe  the  formation  of  the  Catholic  Church. 
Why  were  some  Christians  called  heretics? 

16.  Describe  the  complete  organization  of  the  Catholic 
Church? 


64    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

17.  What  was  Augustine's  theory   of  the   Church? 

18.  Why  did  the  power  of  the  bishop  of  Rome  increase? 

19.  What  was  the  origin  of  the  Nestorian  Church? 

READING 

Foakes- Jackson :  ''History  of  the  Christian  Church  to 
A.  D.  461/'  chs.  VII-IX,  XIII,  XIV,  XVI,  XVIII,  on  mat- 
ters of  doctrine;  chs.  X,  XIX,  on  the  development  of  the 
organization  and  the  rise  of  the  Roman  church. 

Sohm:     "Outlines  of   Church   History,"    Sections    10-14, 
"^       on  organization  and  the  Roman  church. 

Fisher:  ''History  of  the  Christian  Church,"  Periods  II 
and  III. 

Schaff:  "History  of  the  Christian  Church,"  Vols.  II  and 
III  (see  Tables  of  Contents). 

Workman:  "Christian  Thought  to  the  Reformation," 
chs.  III-V,  on  matters  of  doctrine. 

Lindsay:  "The  Church  and  the  Ministry  in  the  Early 
Centuries,"  lectures  V-VII,  on  the  changes  in  organization 
and  worship. 

Farrar:      "Lives  of  the  Fathers,"  Vol.  II,  on  Jerome, 
/'"'       Augustine,  Ambrose  and  Chrysostom. 

^   Adeney:      "The   Greek   and   Eastern   Churches,"   on  the 
^'      Nestorians,  etc. 

Workman:  "The  Evolution  of  the  Monastic  Ideal,"  chs. 
IIII. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  EARLY  MIDDLE 

AGES 

(A.  D.  590-1073) 
I.  THE  WORLD  IN  WHICH  THE  CHURCH  LIVED 

Warfare,  confusion  and  barbarian  darkness  pre-     Wars  and 
vailed    in    western    Europe    during    most    of    the  "*1^es^tern '" 
period  on  which  we  now  enter.     The  Lombards,       Europe 
one  of  the  least  civilized  of  the  German  tribes, 
seized  a  kingdom  in  northern  and  central  Italy. 
Scandinavian  pirates,  the  Normans  and  the  Danes, 
harried  the  coast  of  the  Atlantic  and  the  Mediter- 
ranean.    The  Normans  took  lands  in  France  and 
southern  Italy,  and  in  1066   conquered  England. 
The    Pranks    greatly   increased   their   domains   in 
northern  France  and  western  Germany. 

Out  of  the  East  came  a  great,  new,  conquering  Conquests  of 
people,  the  Arabs,  inspired  by  their  new  religion,  *he  Moslems 
Mohammedanism,  to  invincible  fighting.  In  the 
beginning  Mohammed  was  no  doubt  a  sincere  re- 
ligious leader.  The  religion  which  he  taught,  hav- 
ing for  its  central  feature  the  W'Orship  of  one  God, 
was  much  higher  than  the  polytheism  which  had 
existed  in  Arabia  before  it.  But  he  became  a  self- 
seeker,  and  adopted  war  as  the  means  of  spread- 
ing his  religion.  Before  he  died  (632)  he  had  con- 
quered Arabia,  and  his  religion  had  spread  with 
his  conquests.     The  Arabs,  made  warlike  and  un- 

65 


66    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


conquerable  by  his  teachings,  won  a  vast  empire 
in  western  Asia.  By  desperate  fighting  the  East- 
ern emperors  held  them  at  bay  before  Constan- 
tinople. But  the  Arabs  swept  resistlessly  over 
Egypt,  northern  Africa  and  Spain.  Their  onrush 
in  the  West  was  not  stopped  until  they  met  one  of 
the  strong  Germanic  peoples.  In  732  near  Tours, 
in  central  France,  the  Pranks,  under  Charles  ^lar- 
tel,  defeated  the  warriors  of  Islam,  who  then  re- 
tired into  Spain.  By  noticing  on  a  map  how 
short  is  the  distance  between  Tours  and  Asia  op- 
posite Constantinople,  as  compared  with  the  dis- 
tance already  traveled  by  the  Arabs,  one  may  get 
an  idea  of  how  near  they  came  to  conquering  the 
world,  and  how  great  was  the  danger  to  Christian- 
ity. Though  at  last  stopped,  they  long  held  Spain 
and  the  rest  of  their  conquests,  and  so  had  the 
Mediterranean  at  their  mercy. 

Meanwhile  there  was  no  power  in  western 
Europe  to  uphold  order  and  peace  and  civiliza- 
tion. Since  the  Western  empire  had  passed  away 
in  the  fifth  century,  no  government  had  arisen  to 
take  its  place.  The  kingdoms  set  up  by  the  Ger- 
man tribes  in  the  lands  they  had  seized  had 
not  grown  up  to  be  anything  like  permanent  civi- 
lized states.  Their  rulers  were  mostly  lawless  and 
violent,  unable  to  maintain  just  and  orderly  gov- 
ernment. 
Charlemagne's  But  after  ycars  of  anarchy  there  came  at  last 
empire  ^^^  ^^  ^j^^  world's  chicf  buildcrs  of  civilization. 
This  was  Karl,  king  of  the  Franks,  better  known 
as  Charlemagne,  whose  splendid  reign  lasted  from 


Anarchy  in 
western 
Europe 


CHURCH  IN  EARLY  MIDDLE  AGES        67 

768  to  814.  By  wars  of  conquest  he  made  him- 
self ruler  of  a  domain  stretching  from  the  Elbe 
River  in  Germany  to  the  Ebro  in  northern  Spain, 
having  for  its  western  limit  the  Atlantic  waters, 
extending  eastward  beyond  Vienna,  and  including 
much  of  northern  Italy.  Over  this  great  territory 
Charlemagne's  rule  was  wise,  vigorous  and  effect- 
ive. He  caused  the  first  light  to  shine  in  the  in-  r  I 
tellectual  darkness  which  had  overspread  Europe  j9^y,^^;j'^^^^ 
with  the  barbarian  migrations,  by  encouraging 
learned  men  with  his  patronage  and  by  promoting 
the  establishment  of  schools  in  connection  with 
cathedrals  and  monasteries.  He  was  a  Christian, 
and  used  his  power  in  the  interest  of  Christianity. 
However,  some  of  his  efforts  in  this  direction,  espe- 
cially his  forcing  the  Saxons  by  ruthless  wars  to 
profess  themselves  Christians,  did  more  harm  than 
good. 

Being  the  ruler  of  western  Europe,  and  so  chariemagne 
strongly  Christian,  Charlemagne  could  not  but  "^^"p^g^ 
come  into  relations  with  the  head  of  western  Chris- 
tianity, the  Pope.  The  way  to  such  relations  had 
been  paved  for  him  by  his  father  Pepin,  who  at  the 
Pope's  appeal  had  driven  off  enemies  threaten- 
ing Rome.  Like  his  father,  Charlemagne  gave 
help  to  the  Popes.  In  reward  Pope  Leo  III  on 
Christmas  Day,  800,  at  Rome,  crowned  him  em- 
peror. This  was  regarded  as  a  revival  of  the  an- 
cient Roman  Empire,  and  Charlemagne  as  a  suc- 
cessor of  the  Roman  emperors.  For  Roman  rule  had 
made  so  deep  an  impression  on  the  mind  of  Europe 
that  Tixm  could  think  of  no  other  empire  than  the 


68    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

Roman.  In  token  of  his  connection  with  Rome, 
Charlemagne  took  the  city  as  one  of  his  capitals. 
But  he  and  most  of  his  subjects  were  Germans, 
so  that,  while  called  Roman,  his  was  really  a  Ger- 
man Empire. 

Charlemagne's  domain  was  divided  by  his  grand- 
sons into  three  kingdoms.  Thus  the  empire  passed 
away  for  a  time.  In  the  tenth  century,  however,  a 
great  German  king.  Otto  I,  built  up  by  conquest  a 
realm  including  the  present  German  Empire, 
Switzerland,  and  northern  and  middle  Italy.     As 

Holy  Roman   ^hc  climax  of  his  triumphs,  he  was  crowned  em- 
Empire  1         1       -r. 

peror  by  the  Pope  at  Rome  m  962.  Thus  Charle- 
magne's power  was  in  great  part  revived.  The  em- 
pire created  by  Otto  was  called  the  Holy  Roman 
Empire.^  It  was  tJie  chief  political  power  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  and  indeed  it  lasted  until  1806, 
though  it  was  not  strong  during  much  of  its  life 
after  the  thirteenth  century.  Like  Charlemagne's 
empire,  it  was  called  Roman  because  it  was  re- 
garded as  continuing  the  ancient  Roman  power, 
but  was  really  German.  It  was  called  ' '  Holy ' '  be- 
cause the  men  of  the  time  considered  the  empire  to 
have  a  religious  character.  Their  thought  was  that 
the  kingdom  of  God  has  two  representatives  in  this 
world,  the  empire  to  rule  in  temporal  matters,  and 
the  church,  headed  by  the  Pope,  to  rule  in  spirit- 
ual matters.  According  to  the  theory,  both  empire 
and  church  included  all  men — though  as  a  matter 


^  The  term  "Holy"  was  not  officially  used  until  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury, though,  in  the  time  of  Otto,  men  thought  about  the  empire  in 
the  way  which  this  word  signifies. 


Empire 


CHURCH  IN  EARLY  MIDDLE  AGES         69 

of  fact  the  empire  never  comprised  all  of  western 
Europe.  Thus  human  society,  it  was  thought,  had 
these  two  divinely  appointed  methods  of  govern- 
ment. It  is  plain  now  that  this  idea  of  a  division 
of  authoritj^  between  two  equal  rulers  could  not  be 
realized,  and  that  either  church  or  empire  must 
be  supreme.  In  the  next  period  we  shall  see  how 
this  worked  out. 

During  all  this  time  of  change  in  the  West,  the  Eastern 
Eastern  Empire  held  its  throne  at  Constantinople. 
Its  emperors  claimed  to  be  successors  to  the  Roman 
rulers,  denying  that  the  German  monarchs  had 
any  right  to  this  majesty.  Their  empire  was 
greatly  reduced  by  the  Arabian  conquests,  most 
of  its  Asiatic  and  all  of  its  African  territory  being 
lost;  but  for  centuries  they  kept  the  tide  of  Mo- 
hammedan power  from  overwhelming  Europe.  To 
this  Eastern  Empire  Christianity  is  in  debt  for 
many  years  of  defense  of  its  territory  in  eastern 
Europe  against  Islam. 

II.    THE   CHUKCH 
A.    CHURCH   EXTENSION 

In  this  period  we  shall  see  in  the  life  of  the 
Church  much  to  sadden  us ;  but  that  the  spirit  of 
Christ  was  there  is  shown  by  the  splendid  work  of 
its  missionaries. 

When  England  was  conquered  by  the  heathen 
Angles  and  Saxons,^  they  drove  into  the  western- 
most parts  of  the  island  many  of  the  original  in- 

^See  p.  29. 
6 


70    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


Missions  in 

England : 
(1)    Roman 


(2)    Scottish 


habitants,  the  Britons,  and  with  them  British 
Christianity.  This  had  been  planted  in  the  third 
century,  and  had  grown  strong.  But  the  con- 
querors were  themselves  conquered  by  Christian- 
ity, which  came  to  them  from  two  sources.  From 
E/Ome,  Pope  Gregory  I  sent  about  forty  monks, 
headed  by  Augustine,  prior  of  a  Roman  monastery, 
as  missionaries  to  England.  In  597  they  landed 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Thames.  In  that  year  Ethel- 
bert,  king  of  Kent,  was  baptized,  and  soon  his 
kingdom  became  largely  a  Christian  land.  Augus- 
tine was  appointed  first  archbishop  for  England, 
having  his  seat  at  Canterbury.  Other  Roman  mis- 
sionaries followed  his  band.  Another  important 
Christian  center  was  established  at  York,  in  the 
north  of  England. 

But  the  larger  part  in  Christianizing  the  Eng- 
lish was  played  by  Scottish  monks,  who  came  from 
lona  and  Ireland  early  in  the  seventh  century.^ 
In  635  they  established  a  monastery,  really  a  mis- 
sion station,  at  Lindisfarne,  an  island  on  the  York- 
shire coast.  Hence  the  monks  went  out  widely 
over  England.  "They  were  loved  and  reverenced 
by  the  people.  When  one  of  them  was  traveling 
about  he  was  everywhere  received  with  gladness, 
those  who  met  him  on  the  road  would  eagerly  ask 
his  blessing,  and  at  every  place  which  he  visited, 
people  came  in  crowds  ...  to  hear  him,  for  they 
knew  that  he  came  for  no  other  reason  than  out 
of  care  for  their  souls,  that  he  might  preach,  bap- 


^  See  p.   39.     These  monks   are  properly  called  Scottish,   since   at 
this  early  time  the  people  of  Ireland  were  called  Scots. 


CHURCH  IN  EARLY  MIDDLE  AGES         71 


tize  and  visit  the  sick. "  ^  It  was  these  Scottish 
monks  who  really  won  the  English  people  for 
Christ. 

Thus  there  were  in  England  two  forms  of  Chris- 
tianity, the  Roman  and  the  Scottish.  They  dif- 
fered in  some  small  matters  of  religious  custom. 
Their  chief  difference  was,  however,  that  the 
Roman  missionaries  and  their  converts  acknowl- 
edged the  Pope's  rule,  while  the  Scottish  monks, 
whose  Christianity  did  not  owe  its  origin  to 
Rome,  would  not  do  this.  After  some  contro- 
versy it  was  decided  at  a  synod  in  664,  chiefly 
through  the  influence  of  King  Oswiu,  that  the 
English  church  should  obey  Roman  authority. 
The  church  was  completely  organized  by  Theodore 
of  Tarsus,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  late  in  the 
same  century.  By  that  time  Christianity  was  the 
religion  of  most  of  England. 

The  English  gave  to  other  peoples  some  noble 
missionaries.  Greatest  of  these,  and  of  all  mis- 
sionaries in  this  age,  was  Boniface  (680-755).  He 
was  born  in  Devonshire,  of  wealthy  parents,  and 
became  a  monk,  famous  for  learning,  eloquence  and 
goodness.  "When  no  longer  young  he  felt  the  call, 
to  carry  the  gospel  to  the  Germans.  Despite 
the  entreaties  of  friends  who  foresaw  for  him  a 
great  career  at  home,  he  went  thither,  having  ob- 
tained from  the  Pope  appointment  as  missionary 
in  Thuringia.  He  labored  tremendously,  preach- 
ing, baptizing,  founding  schools  and  monasteries, 


Roman 

Christianity 

prevails 


Boniface  in 
Germany 


1  Stephens   and  Hunt:     "History   of  the  English   Church,"   Vol.   I, 
p.    113. 


72    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

building  up  a  church  organization  in  the  great 
region  of  southern  Germany  which  he  won  for 
Christianity.  Like  most  medieval  missionaries,  he 
made  violent  attacks  on  heathen  worship,  seeking 
thus  to  prove  that  the  heathen  gods  were  nothing. 
He  cut  down  the  oak  sacred  to  Odin  at  Geismar 
in  the  presence  of  a  terror-stricken  crowd  of  bar- 
barians, who  had  allowed  him  to  attempt  this  in 
expectation  of  seeing  him  struck  dead  for  sacri- 
lege. He  showed  one  of  the  marks  of  a  great  mis- 
sionary in  winning  many  to  join  in  his  work, 
mostly  English,  both  men  and  women.  In  addi- 
tion to  his  great  charge  as  archbishop  of  Mainz, 
head  of  the  German  church.  Pope  Zacharias  gave 
him  the  task  of  reforming  and  reorganizing  the 
corrupt  church  of  France,  where  he  wrought  a 
regeneration.  Boniface  crowned  his  work  by  lay- 
ing down  his  high  offices  in  his  seventy- fourth 
year,  and  going  as  a  humble  preacher  to  the  Fris- 
ians, a  wild  people  living  about  the  mouths  of  the 
Rhine.  Two  years  later  a  band  of  them  murdered 
him.  He  had  made  southern  Germany  perma- 
nently a  Christian  land,  and  hardly  any  man  has 
won  richer  conquests  for  Christ. 
Ansgarin  While  the  Northmen  were  ravaging  the  coasts 
aSTsweden  ^^  Europe,  the  Church  was  answering  by  sending 
the  gospel  to  the  homes  of  these  terrors  of  the 
world.  "The  apostle  of  the  north''  was  Ansgar 
(801-865),  a  Frenchman  of  noble  family,  a  monk 
of  Corbey.  He  had  long  desired  to  preach  Christ 
to  heathen  men.  WTien  the  opportunity  came 
through  the  request  of  the  Danish  king,  constrained 


CHURCH  IN  EARLY  MIDDLE  AGES         73 

by  Charlemagne,  for  a  missionary,  he  hastened  to 
Denmark.  After  five  years  there  he  crossed  to 
Sweden  with  a  few  companions,  and  in  that 
country  made  a  good  beginning.  While  he  was 
away  on  a  visit  to  Rome  his  missionaries  were 
driven  out  and  his  work  ruined.  But  with  in- 
trepid faith  he  rallied  his  forces  and  began 
again.  For  twenty-five  more  years  he  labored, 
and  at  last  he  saw  Christianity  triumphant  in 
Sweden. 

During  this  period  Moravia  and  Bohemia  were    ^       '\     y 
won  for  Christ  by  two  remarkable  men,  Greeks  of        / 
Thessalonica,    Cyril   and   Methodius.      The   people     Vs^-fkc)*^^^ 
of  these  countries  were  the  first  of  the  Slavic  peo- 
ples to  become  Christian.     In  several  countries  of 
Europe  Christianity  was  forced  on  the  people  by 
their  rulers,  sometimes  with  cruelty  and  bloodshed. 
This  took  place  in  Norway  and  in  Poland,  though 
in  the  former  there  vras  also  work  by  English  mis- 
sionaries. 

To  a  large  extent  Christianity  was  forced  on  the  Coming  of 
Russians.  King  Vladimir,  late  in  the  tenth  cen-  to  Russia 
tury,  adopted  Christianity,  for  reasons  of  which 
different  accounts  are  given.  Then  he  compelled 
his  people  to  do  the  same.  Christianity  was  not 
new  to  all  of  them,  for  during  most  of  the  century 
missionaries  from  the  Eastern  Empire  had  been 
working  in  some  parts  of  the  country.  But  Vlad- 
imir required  all  his  subjects  to  profess  Christian- 
ity whether  they  knew  anything  about  it  or  not. 
He  and  his  successors,  to  be  sure,  encouraged  mis- 
sionary work,  which  was  actively  carried  on,  and 


medieval 
missions 


74    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

promoted  the  organization  of  the  Church  through- 
out their  realm.  But  many  of  the  people,  espe- 
cially in  the  country  districts,  remained  practically 
heathen.  "Virtually  the  same  heathenism  has 
clung  to  the  peasants  in  combination  with  their 
ignorant  notions  of  Christianity  right  down  to 
the  present  day. ' '  ^  The  Russian  church  was 
from  the  first  in  close  relations  with  the  patri- 
arch of  Constantinople,  and  acknowledged  his  au- 
thority. 
Method  of  One  difference  between  these  medieval  missions 
and  those  we  know  should  be  noticed,  for  it  meant 
much  to  the  life  of  the  Church  for  centuries.  In 
modern  Protestant  missions  the  method  almost  in- 
variably is  to  work  for  individual  conversions,  and 
to  admit  people  to  the  Church  only  when  they 
give  evidence  of  being  soundly  converted.  But 
the  method  of  medieval  missions  generally  was 
to  receive  people  into  the  Church  as  rapidly  as 
they  would  accept  baptism,  without  inquiring  par- 
ticularly into  the  spiritual  condition  of  each  one. 
For  example,  Boniface  is  said  to  have  baptized  a 
hundred  thousand  converts  in  one  year.  Thus 
great  masses  of  people  were  brought  into  the 
Church  and  under  its  teaching  and  discipline.  The 
idea  was  that  actual  Christianization  should  be  ac- 
complished by  a  slow  process  of  education  and  care 
within  the  Church.  This  method  made  possible  a 
rapid  extension  of  the  Church,  but  it  also  brought 
into  the  Church  thousands  who  had  little  idea  of 
what  it  is  to  be  a  Christian. 


^Adeney:    "The  Greek  and  Eastern  Churches,"  p.  369. 


CHURCH  IN  EARLY  MIDDLE  AGES         75 

B.   THE   ORGANIZATION   OF   THE   CHURCH 

Two  matters  are  of  prime  importance  under  this 
head  in  this  period;  the  further  rise  of  the  Roman 
church  and  bishop,  and  the  separation  of  the  Cath- 
olic Church  into  the  eastern  and  western  branches. 

1.  The  Rise  of  the  Papacy 
At  the  beffinnine:  of  the  period  stands  one  of  the     Gregory  i 

^  his  character 

greatest  men  of  the  line  of  the  Popes,  Gregory  I, 
called  the  Great.  The  fact  that  his  election  to 
the  papacy  gives  the  date  (590)  of  the  begin- 
ning of  one  of  the  three  chief  periods  into  which 
church  history  is  usually  divided  witnesses  to 
his  importance.  Gregory  was  of  unblemished  char- 
acter, honored  for  his  goodness  and  the  severe  self- 
denial  of  his  life.  He  had  great  energy  and  cour- 
age, extraordinary  administrative  ability,  states- 
manlike wisdom,  warm  sympathy  for  human 
need,  and  a  noble  vision  and  ambition  for  Chris- 
tianity. He  was  a  voluminous  writer  on  matters 
of  Christian  truth,  and  his  books,  though  not  origi- 
nal or  scholarly,  had  much  influence  in  his  time. 
He  took  great  interest  in  the  ritual  and  music  of 
the  Church. 

By  the  use  of  his  remarkable  gifts,  Gregory  made  His  work  for 
the  most  of  the  Roman  bishop's  place  as  patriarch  ^^^  ^^^^^ 
of  the  West.  He  constantly  asserted  and  enforced 
his  authority  over  this  great  and  growing  part  of 
the  Church.  He  made  the  great  metropolitan  bish- 
ops acknowledge  the  superiority  of  Rome.  He 
caused   worship    to   be   according   to   the   Roman 


76    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

ritual.  He  sent  out  missionaries,  such  as  Augus- 
tine to  England,  who  always  spread  obedience  to 
Rome  as  well  as  Christianity.  It  would  be  un- 
just to  say  that  his  chief  object  was  to  increase 
the  power  of  his  office.  He  labored  incessantly 
to  purify  and  strengthen  the  Church,  to  care  for 
its  poor,  to  give  Christianity  to  the  heathen. 
But  he  sincerely  believed  that  ''the  apostolic  see 
is  the  head  of  all  the  churches,"  and  therefore 
in  everything  he  so  acted  as  to  raise  higher  the 
Roman  bishop.  Though  he  refused  to  be  called 
''universal  bishop,"  he  won  acknowledgment  of  his 
authority  beyond  the  western  patriarchate,  and 
went  far  toward  universal  dominion.  Thus  Greg- 
ory did  more  than  any  other  one  man,  except  Hil- 
debrand,  to  make  the  papacy  what  it  became  in 
the  Middle  Ages. 

Factors  in  the      Jjq^  ^^  jiow  look  at  Several  things  which  in  this 
papacy       period  combined  to  add  to  the  power  of  the  bishop 
of  Rome.     In  western  Europe  no  strong  civil  gov- 
ernment existed  between  A.  D.  400  and  the  time 

theoIi^ysfrTng^^  Charlemagne  (768-814),  or  again  after  Char- 
ruier  in  lemagnc,  until  Otto  I  came.  In  all  this  time  there 
was  no  ruler  who  could  give  peace  and  justice  and 
order.  But  at  Rome,  the  ancient  seat  of  world 
power,  was  the  bishop,  holding  a  time-honored  holy 
office  believed  to  have  been  first  held  by  an  apostle, 
claiming  wide  dominion  in  the  Church,  reaching 
out  all  over  the  West  with  his  sovereignty.  And 
many  of  the  Roman  bishops  were  strong  men,  able 
to  rule.  In  all  western  Europe  for  many  years 
the  Pope  was  the  only  representative  of  perma- 


western 
Europe 


CHURCH  IN  EARLY  MIDDLE  AGES         77 

nent  government.  In  this  situation  the  power  of 
the  papacy  inevitably  grew  throughout  the  West, 
and  to  a  lesser  degree  in  other  parts  of  the  Church. 

Furthermore,  some  of  the  Popes  were  represent-  (2)  The  Popes 
atives  before  men  not  merely  of  authority,  but  Hg^hteousness 
also  of  righteousness;  and  this  in  a  time  when 
many  rulers  knew  no  law  but  their  own  desires. 
During  the  papacy  of  Nicholas  I  (858-867),  Loth- 
aire,  king  of  Lorraine,  put  away  his  wife  and  took 
another  woman,  and  got  approval  of  his  course 
from  the  subservient  archbishops  of  his  realm. 
Such  a  situation  was,  of  course,  a  grave  menace  to 
general  morals.  But  the  Pope,  after  a  long  strug- 
gle, compelled  the  king  to  take  back  his  wife  and 
dismiss  her  rival.  No  other  power  in  the  world 
could  have  brought  this  about.  But  the  authority 
of  the  head  of  the  church,  resting  on  the  fear  of 
excommunication,  which  was  believed  to  mean 
eternal  death,  sufficed  to  win  the  victory.  Thus 
the  Pope  stood  before  the  world  for  something 
greater  than  a  king's  power,  that  is,  tlie  moral  law\ 
Such  affairs,  of  course,  made  the  papacy  stronger; 
but  they  show  that  in  those  times  its  strength  could 
be  a  force  for  good. 

Still  another  thing  that  strengthened  the  papacy  o)  Rise  of  the 
w^as  the  position  of  the  Popes  as  civil  rulers  in    J^^^l^l^^ 
Rome.    This  is  called  the  ' '  temporal  power. ' '    Dur-       papacy 
ing  most  of  the  fifth,  sixth  and  seventh  centuries 
there  w^as  no  civil  government  w^orth  mentioning 
in  Rome.    Often  conditions  of  public  distress  from 
pestilence  or  famine,  or  of  danger  from  enemies, 
or  of  anarchic  disorder,  made  it  the  bishop's  duty 


78    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

to  assume  the  government  and  rule  the  city.  Such 
was  the  case  with  Gregory  I.  The  people  of  Rome 
compelled  him  to  accept  election  to  the  bishopric 
because  the  ruinous  state  of  the  city  demanded  a 
strong,  wise,  righteous  ruler,  and  they  knew  that 
such  he  would  be.  Thus  the  bishop  grew  to  be  the 
regular  civil  as  well  as  spiritual  ruler  of  the  city. 
During  this  period  Rome  came  to  be  practically 
independent,  with  the  Popes  as  its  sovereigns.  Be- 
sides the  city,  the  Popes  governed  extensive  lands 
in  Italy  given  to  them  by  Pepin,  king  of  the  Franks, 
Charlemagne's  father.^  They  thus  held  a  con- 
siderable territory,  having  revenues  and  an  army 
like  other  civil  rulers.  This  temporal  sovereignty 
gave  the  Popes  a  security  of  power  which  could 
not  have  been  gained  otherwise. 
(4)  False         Another  factor  of  strength  was  the  famous  for- 

Decretals  ° 

gery  called  the  False  Decretals.  This,  the  most 
influential  fraud  known  to  history,  was  a  collection 
of  decisions  of  church  councils  and  decrees  and  let- 
ters of  Popes.  Some  were  genuine ;  but  many  of  the 
writings  attributed  to  Popes  were  forged.^  They 
purported  to  be  the  work  of  bishops  of  Rome  from 
the  earliest  Christian  times  down  to  the  eighth  cen- 
tury. They  represented  all  these  bishops,  even 
the  earliest,  as  exercising  authority  over  the  whole 
Church,  and  as  being  acknowledged  to  have  such 


^  These  lands  did  not  belong  to  Pepin,  for  he  had  no  authority 
in  Italy;  nevertheless  he  gave  them  away.  The  Popes  kept  them, 
and  they  formed  a  large  part  of  the  Papal  States,  over  which  the 
Popes  were  sovereigns  until   1870. 

-  The  false  character  of  these  documents  is  now  universally  ac- 
knowledged by  Roman  Catholic  scholars,  along  with  others. 


CHURCH  IN  EARLY  MIDDLE  AGES         79 

authority.  These  false  documents  were  probably 
composed  in  France  about  the  middle  of  the  ninth 
century.  They  seem  to  have  been  written  largely 
with  the  purpose  of  defending  the  bishops  against 
tile  interference  of  metropolitans  or  archbishops  ^ 
and  of  civil  rulers.  This  they  did  by  representing 
the  Popes  as  asserting  the  rights  of  the  bishops. 
In  doing  this  they  also  magnified  the  power  of  the 
papacy.  Thus  support  out  of  history  for  the  papal 
claims  was  manufactured. 

Nicholas  I  ^  was  the  first  Pope  to  use  the  Decre- 
tals to  strengthen  the  papal  office.  He  employed 
them  to  overcome  archbishops  who  claimed  to  be 
independent  of  Roman  rule.  The  false  documents 
are  so  clearly  false  that  nowadays  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  accomplish  anything  by  means  of  them. 
But  in  the  rude  times  when  they  appeared  there 
were  no  scholars  to  see  and  expose  the  fraud.  Fol- 
lowing Nicholas'  use  of  them,  they  were  taken  into 
the  law  of  the  Roman  Church,  and  became  a  power 
to  increase  the  papal  authority. 

Missions  also  played  a  part  in  building  up  the  (S)  Missions 
Roman  power.  When  the  Popes  appointed  mis- 
sionaries they  always  charged  them  to  bring  the 
lands  which  they  won  into  obedience  to  Rome. 
Thus  every  gain  for  Christianity  meant  gain  for 
the  papal  power.  "We  have  already  seen  how  the 
church  in  England  came  under  tJie  authority  of 
the  Popes,  because  of  the  presence  of  Roman  mis- 


1  Metropolitans    were    often    called    archbishops,    from    about    this 
time. 

2  See  p.  77. 


80    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

sionaries.^      Boniface    did    much    to    extend    the 

papal  sway,  in  the  part  of  Germany  which  he  won 

from  heathenism,  and  also  in  Bavaria  and  France. 

(6)  Advance       Strange  to  say,  the  advance  of  Islam  was  an- 

of  Islam  /=  .  .       ^     _,  , 

other  force  which  raised  Rome  s  power  m  the 
Church.  When  western  Asia  and  northern  Africa 
came  under  the  Arab  rule,  the  Church  was  terribly 
weakened  in  the  East.  Three  of  the  five  pa- 
triarchates, Alexandria,  Jerusalem  and  Antioch, 
fell  into  the  possession  of  a  religion  fiercely  intol- 
erant of  Christianity.  Meanwhile  in  the  West  the 
Church  was  growing  fast  through  its  missions. 
Thus  that  part  of  the  Church  which  acknowledged 
the  Pope's  sovereignty  gained  in  importance,  while 
the  Eastern  portion,  in  which  it  was  denied,  became 
smaller  and  weaker. 

2.  The  Separation  of  East  and  West 

The  events  which  occasioned  the  final  division  of 
the  Catholic  Church  into  the  Eastern  and  Western 
churches  were  so  trifling  as  not  to  be  worth  men- 
tioning. For  the  real  causes  of  the  division  we 
Causes  of  the  must  look  deeper.  One  was  a  difference  of  race. 
separaion  j^  ^-^^  Wcst  the  dominant  race  was  the  Latin, 
which  had  been  strengthened  by  mixture  with  the 
Germans.  In  the  East  it  was  the  Greek,  which 
had  received  much  infusion  of  Oriental  blood. 
Here  was  a  difference  which  easily  became  the 
parent  of  misunderstanding  and  lack  of  sympathy, 
strengthening  all  other  forces  of  separation.  An- 
other cause  of  the  division  of  the  Church  was  the 

iSee  p.   71. 


CHURCH  IN  EARLY  MIDDLE  AGES         81 

division  of  the  rule  of  the  empire  between  East 
and  West.  The  gulf  between  the  two  parts  of  the 
empire  was  widened  when  the  line  of  Western 
emperors  ended  and  only  the  Eastern  emperors  re- 
mained, having  no  real  power  in  the  West.  The 
Eastern  emperors  ruled  the  church,  along  with  all 
else  in  their  domain.  But  the  church  in  the  West, 
headed  by  the  Roman  bishop,  would  not  endure 
their  control,  and  finally  broke  with  the  Eastern 
emperors  when  the  Pope  crowned  Charlemagne 
Roman  emperor.  A  third  cause  of  division  was 
the  ever-growing  claims  of  the  Roman  bishop, 
which  were  never  acknowledged  by  the  rival  pa- 
triarch of  Constantinople. 

The  first  breach  came  in  867,  when,  because  of  The  separation 
a  quarrel  between  the  Pope  and  the  patriarch  of 
Constantinople,  an  Eastern  council  declared  the 
Pope  deposed  from  his  bishopric.  This  was  un- 
done by  another  council  two  years  later.  But  the 
feud  of  East  and  West  went  on,  with  much  bitter 
discussion  of  small  differences  of  doctrine  and 
usage,  until  1054.  Then,  after  another  quarrel  be- 
tween Pope  and  patriarch,  the  Pope  pronounced 
anathema  on  the  patriarch  and  his  supporters. 
This  was  the  final  rupture.  From  this  time  the 
Greek  and  Roman  churches  stood  apart,  each 
claiming  to  be  the  true  Catholic  Church  and  re- 
fusing any  recognition  to  the  other.  The  Greek, 
or  Eastern,  Church  comprised  Greece,  most  of  the 
Balkan  peninsula,  and  Russia,  with  most  of  the 
Christians  in  Asia  Minor,  Syria  and  Palestine.  The 
rest  of  Europe  obeyed  the  Pope. 


82    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

Hereafter  our  attention  will  be  given  chiefly  to 
tlie  Roman  or  Western  Church,  because  that 
played  a  much  more  influential  part  in  the  history 
of  the  world  than  did  the  Greek  or  Eastern,  and 
because  with  it  the  religious  life  of  America  to- 
day has  much  more  connection  than  it  has  with  the 
latter  church.  But  we  should  not  let  ourselves 
think  that  this  was  the  whole  Christian  Church. 
Besides  it  there  were,  as  well  as  the  Eascern  Church, 
the  Nestorian  and  other  separate  churches  in  Asia 
and  Egypt.^ 

QUESTIONS  FOR  STUDY 

1.  What  was  the  general  condition  of  western  Europe 
in  the  first  part  of  this  period? 

2.  How  far  did  the  Arab  conquests  extend? 

3.  Describe  the  empire  and  government  of  Charlemagne. 
What  were  his  relations  with  the  Pope? 

4.  When  was  Charlemagne's  empire  revived?  What  was 
the  medieval  idea  of  the  relation  between  the  empire  and 
the  church? 

5.  Describe  the  Christianization  of  the  English. 

6.  Describe  Boniface's  work.  What  part  of  Europe  did 
he  add  to  the  church? 

7.  Describe  Ansgar's  work. 

8.  Describe  the  Christianization  of  Russia. 

9.  How  did  medieval  missions  differ  from  modem  Prot- 
estant missions? 

10.  What  did  Gregory  I  do  for  the  papacy? 

11.  Explain  these  causes  of  the  growth  of  the  power  of 
the  Pope: 

a.  The  political  situation  in  western  Europe. 

b.  The  moral  attitude  of  some  Popes. 

c.  The  gaining  of  temporal  power  by  the  Popes. 

*See  pp.   62,   63. 


CHURCH  IN  EARLY  MIDDLE  AGES         83 

d.  The  False  Decretals. 

e.  Missions. 

f.  The  advance  of  Islam. 

12.  What  were  the  causes  of  the  separation  of  the  East- 
ern and  Western  churches'? 

13.  Describe  the  final  rupture  between  them.  What  were 
the  territories  of  the  two  churches? 

EEADING 

Bryce:  ''The  Holy  Roman  Empire,"  chs.  IV-IX,  on  the 
general  history  of  the  period. 

Adams:    ''European  History,"  pp.  152-198,  on  the  same. 

Workman :  ' '  The  Church  of  the  West  in  the  Middle  Ages, ' ' 
Vol.  I,  chs.  I,  II,  on  the  relations  of  empire  and  church  and 
the  rise  of  the  papacy;    ch.  Ill,  on  missions. 

Stubbs:  "How  Europe  Was  Won  for  Christianity,"  on 
missions. 

MacLear:    "Apostles  of  Mediaeval  Europe,"  on  the  same. 

Milman:  "Latin  Christianity,"  Bk.  Ill,  ch.  VII,  on  Greg- 
ory I;    Bk.  IV,  chs.  III-V,  Bk.  V,  chs.  VIII-X,  on  missions. 

riick :  ' '  The  Rise  of  the  Mediaeval  Church, ' '  on  the  growth 
of  the  papacy. 

Adeney:  "The  Greek  and  Eastern  Oh.urches,"  on  the 
Christianization  of  Russia  and  the  separation  of  East  and 
West. 

Fisher:  "History  of  the  Christian  Church,"  Period  IV; 
Period  V,  chs.  I,  II. 

Moeller:  "History  of  the  Christian  Church  in  the  Middle 
Ages"  (see  contents). 


Causes  of 
paganism  in 
the  Church 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  EARLY  MIDDLE 
AGES  (Continued) 

(A.  D.  590-1073) 

C.    CHRISTIANITY  AT  WAR  WITH  PAGANISM  WITHIN 
THE   CHURCH 

It  must  now  be  clear  that  the  Church  during  the 
period  before  us  contained  many  people  who  were 
only  slightly  Christianized,  more  pagan  than  Chris- 
tian. Let  us  briefly  review  the  causes  of  this  state 
of  things.  One  was  the  action  of  the  Roman  em- 
perors in  legalizing  and  favoring  Christianity. 
Crowds  adopted  the  religion  made  fashionable  by 
imperial  patronage.  Another  cause  came  when 
the  emperor  Theodosius  decreed  that  his  subjects 
must  profess  Christianity  in  the  orthodox  form. 
Thus  was  inaugurated  the  emperors'  policy  of 
using  their  power  to  crush  idolatry  and  constrain 
people  to  belong  to  the  Church.  The  methods  of 
the  missionaries,  again,  resulted  in  the  presence 
in  the  Church  of  thousands  of  Germans  and  other 
peoples  who  had  never  been  converted.^  And 
when  peoples  were  forced  by  tiieir  own  rulers  ^ 
or  by  conquerors  ^  to  accept  Christianity,  this  re- 
sult came  in  even  greater  measure. 


*  See  p.   74. 

2  See  pp.   40,   73. 

•See  p.  67. 


84 


CHURCH  IN  EARLY  MIDDLE  AGES         85 

Thus  within  the  Church  there  was  a  great  mass 
of  paganism,  of  pagan  ideas  about  religion  and 
morals,  and  pagan  ways  of  action,  carried  over 
by  these  people  who  were  Christians  only  in  name 
and  form.     Christianity's  struggle  with  paganism    struggle  of 
therefore  had  to  be  waged  within  the  Church,  as      agiin™ 
well  as  in  the  world  without.     Its  great  task  in  paganism  in 
the  Middle   Ages   was   the   conquest   of  the  bar- 
barians of  northern  and  western  Europe,  who  were 
to  become  the  dominant  peoples  of  the  world.   This 
was  largely  done  after  they  entered  the  Church. 
This  struggle  within  the  Western  Church  was  so 
hard  that  Christianity  was  for  a  time  almost  over- 
come in  its  own  home. 

The  task  of  Christianity  was  made  harder  by 
two  things  wherein  the  times  about  which  we  are 
speaking  differed  from  ours.  We  live  in  a  world 
where  Christianity  has  been  at  work  like  the  leaven 
for  centuries,  so  that  it  has  affected  all  men,  even 
those  who  are  not  personally  Christians.  There- 
fore we  have  governments  which  are  in  good  meas- 
ure forces  for  the  righteousness  which  Christian- 
ity teaches  and  seeks  to  establish.  We  have  also  a 
public  opinion  which  in  what  it  praises  and  in 
what  it  condemns  agrees  with  Christianity  to  a 
considerable  extent.     But  in  the  times  of  which  No  help  toward 

Chrisban 

we  are  speaking  neither  of  these  things  existed  m  morality  from 
western  Europe.     Its  peoples  were  just  emerging  ^"^^^""^^^^^^ 
from  barbarism  and  paganism.     Government,  ex-      opinion 
cept  in  a  few  cases  like  those  of  Charlemagne  and 
Otto  I,   consisted  of  the  rule  of  men  who  were 
themselves  ungoverned  and  violent,  and  often  no- 


Decline  of 
morals  in  the 


86    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

toriously  wicked.  Furthermore,  since  Christianity 
had  had  so  short  a  time  to  work,  there  was  noth- 
ing like  a  Christian  public  opinion.  *'The  tradi- 
tions of  society  at  large  were  undiluted  heathen- 
ism." 

1.  Life  in  the  Church 

What  a  battle  Christianity  had  for  existence 
church  appears  in  the  depths  to  which  character  and  con- 
duct sank  within  the  church.  Even  among  the 
the  clergy  clcrgy  moral  conditions  were  incredibly  bad.  Look, 
for  example,  at  Principal  Workman's  picture  of 
the  church  in  France  in  the  eighth  century,  be- 
fore Boniface  disciplined  it  into  some  decency. 
*'The  majority  of  its  priests  were  runaway  slaves 
or  criminals,  who  had  assumed  the  tonsure  ^  with- 
out any  ordination.  Its  bishoprics  were  regarded 
as  private  estates,  and  were  openly  sold  to  the 
highest  bidder.  .  .  .  The  archbishop  of  Rouen 
could  not  read;  his  brother  of  Treves  had  never 
been  ordained.  .  .  .  Drunkenness  and  adultery 
were  among  the  lesser  vices  of  a  clergy  that  had 
become  rotten  to  the  core. "  ^  It  is  not  too  much 
to  say  that  throughout  Europe  scandalous  and 
shameful  priests  outnumbered  those  of  worthy 
life.  Not  only  ignorance  and  neglect  of  duty  were 
frequent,  but  also  luxurious  living,  gross  immoral- 
ity, robbery  and  simony,  that  is,  the  buying  of 
clerical  offices.     The  higher  clergy  were  no  better. 


*  The  shaving  of  a  circle  at  the  crown  of  the  head,  which  was 
the  sign   of  priesthood. 

-  "The  Church  of  the  West  in  the  Middle  Ages,"  Vol.  I,  pp. 
75,   76. 


CHURCH  IN  EARLY  MIDDLE  AGES         87 

perhaps  worse,  than  the  lower.  Simony  was  the 
regular  and  recognized  way  of  obtaining  a  bish- 
opric, and  for  some  bishoprics  there  was  a  fixed 
price. 

Nor  was  the  papacy  exempt.  Its  state  during  Degradation 
most  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  beginning  about  <*^  **^^  P^p^"^y 
890  was  vile  to  the  last  degree.  The  office  that  had 
been  raised  so  high  by  Gregory  I  and  Nicholas  suf- 
fered every  imaginable  disgrace.  Political  rivals 
and  their  followers  fought  for  it.  Some  of  its  oc- 
cupants were  notoriously  guilty  of  all  sorts  of 
crimes.  For  years  a  family  of  infamous  women 
controlled  the  papacy,  giving  it  as  they  willed. 
Then  the  emperor  Otto  I,  in  order  to  rescue  it 
from  its  degradation,  made  it  subject  to  himself. 
For  forty  years  the  emperors  set  up  and  pulled 
down  Popes,  choosing,  it  is  true,  some  better  men 
than  had  lately  borne  the  title.  Afterwards  the 
office  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  noble  Italian  family, 
the  Counts  of  Tusculum.  Their  possession  ended 
with  Benedict  IX,  whose  debaucheries  and  rob- 
beries and  murders  finally  roused  the  Roman 
populace  to  revolt  and  drive  him  out.^  That  the 
papacy  recovered  from  all  this  shame  and  gained 
far  greater  power  than  ever  before,  shows  how 
strong  a  hold  the  office  had  on  the  mind  of  the 
people  of  Europe. 

Even  those  who  were   supposed  to   have   gone     Monastic 
apart  from  the  world  to  find  Christian  surround-     corruption 


1  These  facts  regarding  the  papacy  are  related  by  Roman  Catholic 
as  well  as  Protestant  historians.  See,  for  example,  Alzog:  "Uni- 
versal Church  History,"  Vol.  II,  pp.  292-298. 


88    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


Moral 

condition  of 

the  people 


ings  and  lead  consecrated  lives,  that  is,  the 
monastics,  were  infected  by  the  prevailing  degra- 
dation. In  fact  some  of  the  worst  reports  of 
immorality  concern  them.  Within  most  monas- 
teries conditions  were  not  much,  if  at  all,  better 
than  in  the  ^vorld  without. 

WTien  religious  leaders,  even  those  in  the  high- 
est places,  were  of  such  character,  it  is  needless 
to  say  much  about  the  morals  of  the  people  of 
the  church.  By  the  end  of  the  tenth  century,  in 
a  large  part  of  western  Europe  practically  every 
person  was  in  the  church  and  was  a  Christian  so 
far  as  name  and  religious  ceremonies  go.  But 
Christian  moral  teaching  had  not  yet  had  much 
effect  on  the  conduct  of  men.  While  there  were  in- 
dividuals in  whose  lives  true  Christian  goodness 
shone,  society  as  a  whole  showed  little  of  the  trans- 
forming work  of  Christianity.  Dean  Church,  ex- 
plaining why  so  many  men  and  women  in  this  time 
took  up  monastic  life,  says,  ' '  Let  a  man  throw  him- 
self into  the  society  of  his  day  then,  and  he  found 
himself  in  an  atmosphere  to  which  real  religion, 
the  religion  of  self -conquest  and  love,  was  simply 
a  thing  alien  or  unmeaning,  which  no  one  imagined 
himself  called  to  think  on;  or  else  amid  eager 
and  overmastering  activities,  fiercely  scorning  and 
remorselessly  trampling  down  all  restraints  of  even 
common  morality. ' '  ^  The  wickedness  and  misery 
of  the  mass  of  men  in  these  ages  were  appalling. 

This  state  of  things  was  due  simply  to  pagan- 
ism, present  within  the  church  and  unconquered 


1  Church:    "St.  Anselm,"  p.   4. 


CHURCH  IN  EARLY  MIDDLE  AGES 


89 


by  Christianity.  This  corrupt  society  was  really 
a  heathen  society,  though  nominally  Christian.  In 
order  to  get  some  idea  of  what  it  was  to  live  in 
the  world  of  that  time,  we  must  keep  in  mind  the 
fact  that,  besides  being  ruled  largely  by  heathen 
morality,  the  world  was  swept  by  almost  incessant 
fighting.  Wars,  great  and  small,  among  the  kings 
and  nobles,  and  fresh  barbarian  attacks  filled 
western  Europe  with  savagery  and  destruction.^ 
Moreover,  it  was  a  world  of  gross  ignorance.  The 
ancient  Greco-Roman  culture  had  been  well-nigh 
drowned  by  the  flood  of  barbarian  invasion.  Knowl- 
edge, even  of  the  most  rudimentary  kind,  was  the 
possession  of  only  a  few.  Charlemagne's  revival 
of  learning  ^  was  the  only  bright  spot  in  a  state 
of  things  which  makes  these  times  deserve  the 
name  of  the  "Dark  Ages."  In  such  a  world 
Christianity  had  the  task  of  getting  its  moral 
teachings  obeyed. 


2.  Worship  and  Popular  Religion 

In  an  earlier  chapter  we  saw  Christian  worship 
somewhat  corrupted  by  paganism.  In  this  period, 
since  there  was  a  larger  pagan  element  in  the 
church,  its  worship  showed  this  influence  in 
greater  degree.  And  not  only  worship,  but  also 
a  whole  system  of  religious  acts  and  customs,  wit- 
nessed to  the  presence  of  pagan  religion.  What 
Dean  ]\Iilman  called  a  "Christian  mythology" 
grew  up   and   formed   the   Christianity  of  many 


^  See  beginning  of  Ch.  V. 
2  See  p.   67. 


Paganism  in 

worship  and 

popular 

religion 


90    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


Mariolatry 

and  saint 

worship 


people — probably  it  would  be  safe  to  say  of  the 
mass  of  the  people. 

The  one  God  revealed  through  Christ  was  not 
the  only  object  of  worship.  A  number  of  other 
beings  received  it,  and  in  the  minds  of  many 
people  these  others  took  a  larger  place  than  God. 
They  seemed  nearer  and  fuller  of  human  sym- 
pathy. Chief  among  these  was  the  Virgin  Mary, 
whose  worship  was  greatly  developed.  A  series  of 
festivals  connected  with  her  was  added  to  the 
church  year.  Prayers  were  constantly  offered 
to  her  for  her  intercession  with  God.  The  saints, 
of  whom  there  were  now  many,  martyrs  and  mo- 
nastics and  other  holy  men  and  women,  were  in- 
voked for  their  protection  and  their  availing  pray- 
ers. Places,  churches,  individuals  and  societies 
had  their  saintly  protectors,  or  patron  saints. 
The  saints  had  their  special  days  for  w^orship,  and 
so  the  church  calendar  grew  up.  Canonization, 
that  is,  elevation  to  sainthood,  was  now  given  by 
regular  procedure,  through  the  decisions  of  the 
Popes.  The  custom  of  going  on  pilgrimage  to  the 
shrines  of  the  saints,  and  to  other  places  esteemed 
holy,  grew  greatly.  Such  journeys  were  thought 
to  give  the  pilgrims  merit  in  the  sight  of  God. 
The  most  meritorious  pilgrimage,  of  course,  was 
that  to  the  Holy  Land.  This,  it  was  believed, 
earned  forgiveness  for  all  sins. 
BeUefinreUcs  Relics  played  a  very  large  part  in  popular  re- 
ligion. Things  said  to  be  the  bones  of  the  apostles 
and  the  chains  with  which  Peter  was  bound,  for 
example,  were  treasured  by  their  happy  posses- 


Pilgrimages 


CHURCH  IN  EARLY  MIDDLE  AGES 


91 


sors,  and  were  believed  to  have  the  power  of  work- 
ing miracles.  Gregory  I,  who  was  a  leader  intel- 
lectually as  well  as  in  other  respects,  sought  relics 
with  devout  enthusiasm  and  in  perfect  faith  told 
stories  of  their  wondrous  powers. 

In  worship  the  central  feature  was  the  mass,  as 
the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  was  now 
usually  called.^  This  was  regarded  as  a  sacrifice 
constantly  offered  to  God  for  the  sins  of  the  world. 
More  and  more  it  was  believed  that  the  bread  and 
wine  of  the  sacrament  were  the  veritable  flesh  and 
blood  of  Jesus,  though  the  belief  was  not  yet  a 
declared  doctrine  of  the  church. 

In  the  popular  religion  there  was  a  large  ele- 
ment of  fear,  as  was  the  case  in  the  pagan  religions 
which  Christianity  had  displaced.  The  world  was 
thought  to  be  full  of  evil  spirits,  devils,  who  sought 
to  injure  men's  bodies  and  souls.  Against  their 
malice  the  powers  of  angels  and  saints  and  the 
magic  charms  of  holy  relics  must  be  appealed 
to.  An  awful  sanctity  was  attributed  to  church 
buildings,  to  the  elements  of  the  mass,  to  relics, 
to  the  persons  of  the  clergy.  Stories  were  told 
and  believed  of  how  irreverent  acts  in  churches 
and  disrespect  to  priests  had  been  followed  by 
calamity  or  instant  death.  The  power  of  Chris- 
tianity over  many  people  was  largely  a  power  of 
fear. 

At  first  sight  it  seems  unaccountable  that  Chris- 
tianity should  take  such  a  form  as  this,  so  far  re- 
moved from  the  simplicity  and  spirituality  and 


The  mass 

central  in 

worship 


A  religion  of 
fear 


^  See  note,  p.   57. 


92    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

joyful  trust  of  the  religion  of  Jesus.  But  we  can 
understand  how  it  happened  when  we  think  that 
many  of  the  people  among  whom  this  kind  of 
Christianity  grew  up  still  had  pagan  ideas  con- 
cerning religion. 

D.   DAWN   APTER   THE   DARK   AGES 

Again  and  again  in  the  history  of  the  Church 
Christianity  has  seemed  almost  overwhelmed  by 
human  imperfection  in  its  own  home;  and  then 
the  life  of  Christ,  the  Head  of  the  Church,  ever 
present  in  his  people,  has  shown  its  power  and 

Revival  of  brought  in  better  things.  So  it  was  at  this  time. 
rehgious  life  j^  ^^iq  eleventh  century  there  began  an  awakening 
of  life  in  the  Western  Church.  A  revival  of  re- 
ligion came  in  a  form  suited  to  those  times. 

New  life  in        From  the  year  1000  we  begin  to  see  a  change  for 

Europe  after      ^^  ._  .  .         ^  Z.  _, 

A.  D.  1000  the  better  m  all  the  life  of  Europe.  In  that  year, 
many  had  thought,  the  end  of  the  world  would 
come,  because  it  vs^ould  close  the  millennium  which 
began  with  the  birth  of  Jesus.  People  all  over 
Europe  had  looked  forward  to  it  with  dread.  The 
years  just  before  it  and  the  year  itself  were  times 
of  general  gloom  and  terror.  After  the  year  of 
doom  passed,  a  breath  of  neAV  life  seemed  to  stir 
the  world.  Signs  of  progress  began  to  appear. 
Of  course  there  was  real  reason  for  this,  apart 
from  the  superstitious  idea  about  the  year  1000. 
After  centuries  of  war  and  disorder,  Europe  was 
settling  down  into  peace.  The  Germans  had  long 
since  ended  their  wanderings  and  found  homes,  and 
were  gradually  becoming  civilized.     The  Normans 


CHURCH  IN  EARLY  MIDDLE  AGES         93 

and  the  Danes,  the  last  of  the  barbarians  to  attack 
southern  Europe,  had  stopped  their  piratical  rav- 
ages. The  Arabs  had  ceased  from  war  and  were 
confined  to  a  part  of  Spain.  Europe,  as  it  were, 
had  rest,  and  could  think.  Christianity,  which  had 
been  living  and  working  in  spite  of  the  hindrances 
we  have  seen,  had  better  opportunity  to  show  its 
power,  and  did  show  it. 

Perhaps  what  shocks  us  most  in  the  conditions 
at  which  we  have  been  looking  is  the  corruption 
in  the  monasteries,  supposed  to  be  the  homes  of 
special  consecration.  "We  should  say  that  a  real 
revival  ought  to  show  itself  there,  if  anywhere. 
And  there  the  awakening  began.  For  the  begin- 
nings of  this  movement  we  have  to  look  back  into  Monastic 
the  tenth  century.  In  that  time  there  was  founded,  ^^  ^^JJ[™ 
in  southeastern  France,  tlie  monastery  of  Cluny. 
Here  the  Benedictine  rule  was  observed  in  its  early 
severity,  and  the  monks  really  lived  as  men  who 
had  taken  such  vows  ought  to  live.  From  Cluny 
there  spread  over  France  and  into  Germany  the 
awakening,  the  conscience  of  existing  evils  and  the 
purpose  to  amend  life,  until  many  monasteries 
were  purged  of  their  unrighteousness.  New  mon- 
asteries also  were  founded,  embodying  the  spirit  of 
the  Cluniae  reform.  There  was  formed  what  was 
called  the  Cluniae  congregation,  a  group  of  mon- 
asteries in  France  under  the  control  of  the  abbot 
of  Cluny,  all  of  them  living  according  to  its  good 
example. 

Early  in  the  eleventh  century  there  grew  up  a  The  reformiini 
reforming  party,  determined  to  raise  tlie  church        f^^''>' 


94    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

out  of  its  evil  case.     It  was  composed  mostly  of 
men  who  had  been  trained  in  the  zealous  and  strict 
life  of  Cluny  or  in  monasteries  under  its  influence. 
The  general  idea  of  their  policy  of  reform  was 
to   set   the   church   free   from   entanglement   with 
Hs  program;   worldly  powcrs  and  interests.     One  item  in  their 
simony       program   was   the   abolition   of   simony,   the   pur- 
chase of  offices  in  the  church.     This  evil  was  the 
result  of  the  great  wealth  of  tiie  church.     Bish- 
oprics and  monasteries  had  attached  to  them  large 
and  rich  lands,  over  which  the  bishops  and  abbots 
ruled  just  as  great  nobles  did  over  their  lands.  Like 
the  nobles  these  church  officers  had  to  own  alle- 
giance to  the  kings  of  the  countries,  because  of 
their  control  of  land  in  the  kings'  domains.     Thus 
the  civil  rulers  got  into  their  hands  the  power  of 
appointing  bishops  and  abbots;    and,  being  often 
irreligious  men,  tliey  would  sell  these  appointments 
for  money.     This  practice  was,  of  course,  ruinous 
to  the  spiritual  life  of  the  church.    Men  who  would 
buy  religious   offices   could  not  be  the  men  who 
ought  to  have  the  offices. 
(2)  Enforce-       Another  part  of  the  program  of  reform  was  an 
*"ceubacy"^^  attack  ou  the  general  violation  of  clerical  celibacy. 
Though  this  had  long  been  the  law  of  the  church, 
it  w^as  commonly  disobeyed,  and  many  bishops  and 
priests   were  married.     To   clerical  marriage  the 
reformers  were  opposed  because  it  seemed  to  them 
that    married    men    must   be    more    interested   in 
amassing  property  for  their  children  than  in  the 
welfare  of  the  church.     If  tliis  and  simony  were 
abolished,  they  believed,  the  church  would  be  in 


CHURCH  IN  EARLY  MIDDLE  AGES 


95 


great  measure  freed  from  the  control  of  worldly 
interests.  A  third  part  of  the  program  was  a 
strict  cleansing  of  the  lives  of  the  clergy.  Them- 
selves men  of  severe  lives,  these  reformers  hated 
and  despised  the  prevalent  immorality,  and  swore 
destruction  to  it.  As  a  means  of  realizing  these 
aims,  the  reforming  party  meant  to  increase  the 
power  of  the  Pope  and  secure  its  use  for  their  ob- 
jects. 

The  reformers  got  their  first  chance  to  work 
out  their  aims  in  1049,  when  one  of  them  be- 
came Pope  Leo  IX.  He  was  made  Pope  by  the 
great  emperor,  Henry  III,  who,  when  the  disgrace- 
ful Benedict  IX  sold  his  office,  interfered  in  order 
to  save  the  papacy  from  further  degradation.  Leo 
and  several  successors  strove  to  carry  out  the  plan 
of  the  reforming  party,  and  made  things  somewhat 
better.  These  Popes  were  dominated  by  the  man 
who  became  leader  of  the  reformers,  and  who  was 
to  be  the  greatest  of  all  Popes — Hildebrand. 

Hildebrand  was  an  Italian  of  humble  birth,  who 
though  not  a  monk  had  imbibed  the  spirit  of  the 
monks  of  Cluny.  Remaining  in  a  minor  church 
office,  he  was  the  power  behind  the  throne  in  the 
papacy  from  the  time  of  Leo  IX  to  his  own  elec- 
tion, in  1073.  He  really  chose  Popes  and  molded 
their  policy,  working  out  steadily  a  great  plan  for 
the  regeneration  of  the  church,  which  lay  clear  be- 
fore his  far-seeing  mind.  It  was  in  line  with  the 
plan  of  his  party,  but  was  greater  with  the  great- 
ness of  his  own  intellect  and  character.  Thus  Hil- 
debrand waited,  shaping  things  so  that  when  he 


(3)  Moral 

discipline  of 

the  clergy 


Reforming 
Popes 


Hildebrand 


96    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

himself  became  Pope  he  would  have  the  fullest 
opportunity  to  accomplish  his  purposes.  In  1073, 
while  a  requiem  for  Pope  Alexander  II  was 
being  sung  in  St.  Peter's,  the  people  suddenly- 
shouted  :  ' '  Hildebrand !  The  blessed  Peter  chooses 
Hildebrand!"  At  once  the  cardinals  chose  him, 
and  he  became  Pope  Gregory  VII.  What  his 
great  plans  were  and  how  he  wrought  them  out 
we  shall  see  in  our  next  chapter. 

E.     LIFE  AND  THOUGHT  IN"  THE  EASTERN   PART  OJ' 
THE   CHURCH 

The  final  separation  of  the  Eastern  and  Western 
churches  occurred  only  a  score  of  years  before  the 
close  of  this  period.  But  for  two  centuries  before 
that,  as  we  have  seen,^  the  two  parts  of  the  Church 
were  estranged.  And  still  further  back,  in  the 
sixth  century,  the  Eastern  part  of  the  Church  be- 
gan to  lead  a  life  largely  separate  from  that  of 
the  Western. 
Theological  The  Greek  fondness  for  theological  discussion 
disputes  and  g]^Q^,g(j  itself  in  the  continuance  of  disputes  about 

resulting  _  ^ 

divisions  the  pcrsou  of  Christ,  long  after  the  question  had 
been  settled,  as  was  supposed,  by  the  council  of 
Chalcedon.  Of  the  Monophysites  and  the  separate 
churches  which  they  formed  we  have  already 
spoken.^  After  them,  in  the  seventh  century, 
came  the  Monothelites,  holding  that  there  were 
two  natures  in  Christ,  but  only  one  will  govern- 
ing his  life.    Against  them  the  orthodox  contended 


^  See  p.   81. 

2  See  pp.   62,   63. 


CHURCH  IN  EARLY  MIDDLE  AGES         97 

fiercely.  At  the  sixth  general  council,  at  Con- 
stantinople in  680,  the  Monothelite  teachings  were 
condemned.  Though  the  Western  part  of  the 
Church  took  little  interest  in  these  disputes,  Pope 
Honorius  I  was  drawn  into  the  controversy  of  the 
Monothelites,  and  approved  their  views.  Hence 
the  council  of  Constantinople  actually  pronounced 
an  anathema  upon  the  Pope  for  heresy. 

While  Christianity  in  the  East  was  miserably  Effect  of  the 
divided  by  empty  wranglings  over  fine  points  of  conquest 
doctrine,  there  fell  upon  it  the  terrible  attack  of 
the  Moslems.  In  the  seventh  and  eighth  centuries 
the  Arab  warriors  of  Islam  conquered  Syria,  Pales- 
tine, part  of  Asia  Minor,  Mesopotamia  and  Egypt. 
Thus  the  Eastern  Empire  suffered  irreparable  loss. 
Nor  was  the  Church  ever  afterwards  as  strong  in 
the  East  as  it  had  been.  To  be  sure,  the  remainder 
of  Asia  Minor,  the  Balkan  peninsula  and  Greece 
were  long  held  by  the  empire,  so  that  there  the 
Church  was  defended  against  the  tide  of  Islam. 
Moreover,  the  Arab  rulers  were  comparatively 
tolerant  toward  Christians.  The  Christians  were 
compelled  to  pay  tribute,  exposed  to  dishonor 
in  various  ways,  and  forbidden  to  build  new 
churches;  but  they  were  allowed  to  keep  up  their 
worship.  Nevertheless,  the  Church  was  sorely 
weakened  where  it  had  to  live  under  the  Moslem 
power. 

After  the  Moslem  conquest.  Eastern  Christianity  Decline  afier 
began  to  sink  into  the  stagnation  and  monotony  *  **  co"<iues 
in   which   for   the   most   part   it   has   since   lived. 
Great    disturbances    were    caused    in    the    eighth 


98     GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


Image 

worship 

controversy 


Missions 


Unprogressive- 
ness 


and  again  in  the  ninth  century  by  the  attempts 
of  certain  strong  emperors  to  abolish  the  worship 
of  images  ^  in  the  churches.  This  was  resisted 
by  the  ignorant  among  the  people  and  by  the 
monks.  Though  the  emperors  were  determined 
in  carrying  out  their  policy,  even  using  persecu- 
tion, they  could  not  make  the  people  give  up  their 
images.  In  869  a  synod  at  Constantinople  declared 
in  favor  of  the  use  of  them. 

A  stirring  of  life  appeared  in  the  work  of  the 
missionaries  who  went  to  the  Slavic  peoples  to 
the  North,  beginning  in  the  ninth  century.  Among 
these  were  Methodius  and  Cyril,  pioneers  of  the 
gospel  in  Moravia  and  Bohemia,^  and  those  who 
preached  in  Russia.^  Since  the  church  in  Rus- 
sia was  from  the  first  subject  to  the  patriarch  of 
Constantinople,  the  Christianization  of  this  coun- 
try greatly  enlarged  the  Eastern  part  of  the 
Church. 

In  general,  however,  the  condition  of  Christian- 
ity in  the  East  after  the  Moslem  conquest  was  one 
of  increasing  sloth  and  deadness.  This  part  of  the 
Church  had  its  last  great  religious  thinker  in  John 
of  Damascus,  in  the  eighth  century.  He  wrote  a 
full  statement  of  Christian  doctrine,  according  to 
the  creeds  of  the  Church.  After  him  the  Church 
in  the  East  held  stifSy  to  his  ways  of  expressing 
Christian  truth.  There  was  no  change,  because 
there  was  little  life.     In  other  respects,  also,  the 


^  The  "images' 
2  See  p.   73. 
8  See  p.   73. 


were  pictures,  not  statues. 


CHURCH  IN  EARLY  MIDDLE  AGES         99 

Eastern  part  of  the  Church  remained  conservative, 
clinging  to  the  old  simply  because  it  was  old.  In 
this  way  it  weakened  its  service  for  the  kingdom 
of  God. 

In  this  period  the   Nestorian   Church,   farther     Nestorian 
east,  continued  and  increased  the  missionary  work 
in   Asia  which  began   at  its  birth.^     There  were 
certainly    Nestorian    Christians    in    India    in    the 
seventh  century,  and  in  China  in  the  eighth. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  STUDY 

1.  How    did    paganism    come    to    be    strong    -within    the 
church? 

2.  What  were  the  signs  of  paganism  in  the  life  of  the 
church;  in 

a.  The  clergy. 

b.  The  papacy. 

c.  Society    generally? 

3.  Describe  the  signs  of  paganism  in  worship  and  popular 
religion ; 

a.  The  development  of  Mariolatry. 

b.  The  development  of  saint  worship. 

c.  The  adoration  of  relics. 

d.  The  element  of  fear  in  religion. 

4.  What  change  occurred  in  European  life  about  the  year 
1000? 

5.  Describe  the  monastery   of   Cluny   and  the  reform  in 
monastic  life  caused  by  it. 

6.  What  was  the  program  of  the  reforming  party  of  the 
eleventh  century? 

7.  Who  was  the  great  leader  of  the  reformers?     Describe 
his  influence  in  the  papacy  before  he  became  Pope. 

8.  What   was   the   effect    of   theological    disputes   on   the 
church  in  the  East? 

9.  What  was  the  effect  on  it  of  the  Arab  conquest? 

iSee  p.  62. 


100    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

10.  What  was  the  leading  characteristic  of  the  church  in 
the  East? 

READING 

Workman :  ' '  The  Church  of  the  West  in  the  Middle  Ages, ' ' 
Yol.  I,  ch.  II,  on  the  state  of  morals  in  the  church;  ch.  IV, 
on  the  reformers  and  Hildebrand. 

Milman:  "Latin  Christianity,"  Bk.  Ill,  ch.  VII,  on  wor- 
ship and  popular  religion;  Bk.  V,  chs.  XI-XIV,  Bk.  VI, 
chs.  I-III,  on  the  papacy,  the  reformers  and  Hildebrand. 

Moeller:  ''History  of  the  Christian  Church  in  the  Middle 
Ages,"  First  Period,  ch.  XI,  Second  Period,  ch.  V.  on  wor- 
ship   and   popular   religion. 

Schaff :  ''History  of  the  Christian  Church,"  Vol.  Ill,  sec- 
tions 81-86,  on  the  same. 

Workman:  "The  Evolution  of  the  Monastic  Ideal,"  pp. 
219-236,  on  Cluny  and  the  reformers. 

Stephens:    "Hildebrand  and  His  Times." 


CHAPTER  Vn 

THE  CHURCH  AT  THE  HEIGHT  OF  THE 

MIDDLE  AGES 

(A.  D.  1073-1294) 

I.  THE  WESTERN  CHUECH 

A.   THE   MEDIEVAL  PAPACY 

1.  Hildebrand 

At  the  end  of  the  preceding  period  we  saw  com- 
ing on  the  scene  at  Rome  the  man  of  whom  another 
who  was  like  him  in  imperial  ambition  said,  ''If 
I  were  not  Napoleon,  I  should  wish  to  have  been 
Hildebrand."  Hildebrand  found  the  papacy  in 
weakness  and  humiliation,  and  made  it  the  great- 
est power  in  Europe.  He  was  the  greatest  of  the 
Popes,  the  chief  builder  of  the  medieval  papacy. 
Gregory  I  before  him  had  done  much  at  the  struc- 
ture, and  after  him  Innocent  III  carried  the  work 
farther,  but  the  master  builder  was  Hildebrand. 
In  his  mind  there  rose  an  ideal  for  the  papacy 
and  the  church  which  dazzles  us  with  its  daring 
height.  His  genius  planned  a  policy  for  the  pur- 
pose of  turning  this  ideal  into  fact,  and  his  iron 
will  made  it  a  fact  in  good  measure. 

a.  The  Church  to  Be  Freed  from  the  World 

The  policy  of  Hildebrand  had  two  great  parts. 
The  first  was  to  free  the  church  from  tlie  control 
8  101 


102    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

of  the  world.  This  was  the  purpose  of  the  re- 
forming party  of  which  he  had  become  the  leader. 
Hildebrand  determined  to  deliver  the  church  from 
slavery  to  civil  rulers  and  to  worldly  interests. 
In  order  to  accomplish  this,  one  necessary  thing 
was  a  change  in  the  method  of  choosing  the  head 
Papal  elections  of  the  cliurch.  For  many  years  the  emperors 
^'imperlar  ^^^d  Controlled  the  choice  of  Popes.  During  the 
control  papacy  of  Nicholas  II  (1058-1061),  when  Hilde- 
brand was  really  directing  affairs,  he  procured 
the  establishment  of  the  college  of  cardinals,  with 
power  to  elect  the  Pope.  The  emperor's  power  in 
the  matter  was  reduced  to  practically  nothing. 
Thus  the  head  of  the  church  vvas  chosen  by  the 
church,  through  its  officers,  not  forced  upon  it 
by  some  powerful  ruler. 
Abolition  of  Anotlicr  thing  necessary  for  the  church's  free- 
dom was  to  do  away  with  the  appointment  of 
bishops  by  kings.  This  practice  was  known  as  "lay 
investiture,"  because  the  bishop  was  invested  with 
certain  symbols  of  his  office  by  the  ruler,  a  lay- 
man. We  should  all  agree  with  Hildebrand 
about  this.  The  church  could  not  allow  its  chief 
officers,  the  men  who  directed  its  work,  to  be  ap- 
pointed for  it  by  the  civil  authorities  of  the  coun- 
tries in  which  they  were  to  serve.  It  must  choose 
them  itself.  The  Scotch  Presbyterians  who,  in 
1843,  left  the  Church  of  Scotland  and  formed  the 
Free  Church,  because  they  could  not  endure  that 
the  ministers  should  be  chosen  by  the  great  land- 
holders of  the  parishes  instead  of  by  the  congrega- 
tions, were  asserting  Hildebrand 's  principle.     The 


HEIGHT  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES         103 

principle  is  that  the  church  cannot  be  a  tj-ue 
church  of  Christ  if  it  does  not  choose  its  o^vn 
teachers  and  rulers.  Moreover,  Hildebrand  saw 
clearly  that  so  long  as  civil  rulers  appointed  to 
bishoprics  and  other  church  places,  there  would 
be  simony/  The  only  way  to  get  rid  of  this  great 
evil,  which  was  choking  the  life  of  tJie  church, 
was  to  cut  out  its  roots  by  removing  church  office 
from  the  control  of  kings. 

Soon  after  he  became  Pope,  Hildebrand  began  contest  with 
a  determined  war  upon  lay  investiture.  But  the  "^'  ^^^^^ 
kings  were  most  unwilling  to  lose  the  appointing 
of  bishops.  Many  of  the  bishops  held  large  and 
valuable  lands.  Naturally  the  rulers  insisted 
upon  choosing  those  who  held  such  great  posses- 
sions in  their  countries.  Thus  Hildebrand  was 
drawn  into  conflict  with  the  most  powerful  men 
of  Europe.  Characteristically,  he  did  not  shrink 
from  the  conflict,  but  rather  forced  it,  and  struck 
first  at  the  most  powerful  opponent,  the  ruler  of 
the  German  or  Holy  Roman  Empire.^  Here  the 
two  great  powers  of  Europe,  the  church  and  the 
empire,  finally  entered  the  inevitable  conflict. 

The  emperor,  Henry  IV,  an  obstinate,  tyrannical  Contest  with 
man,  refused  consent  to  the  Pope's  position  on  the  Henry  iv 
question  of  the  appointment  of  bishops,  and  in 
other  ways  resisted  him.  After  some  parley  and 
threatening,  Hildebrand  excommunicated  Henry 
and  declared  him  deposed  from  his  throne.  Now 
Henry  had  many  enemie§  among  his  subjects,  and 

1  See  pp.  86-87,  94. 

2  See  p.   68. 


104    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

parts  of  his  domain  were  already  in  revolt.  The 
papal  excommunication  strengthened  the  rebellion, 
and  Henry  found  himself  unable  to  quell  it.  He 
was  forced  to  make  most  humiliating  terms  with 
his  subjects,  the  great  nobles  of  Germany.  He 
was  to  submit  himself  absolutely  to  the  Pope,  and 
was  to  obtain  from  him  T^dthin  a  year  release  from 
excommunication,  on  penalty  of  forever  losing  his 
throne.  The  decision  as  to  whether  he  should  keep 
the  throne  was  to  be  made  at  the  end  of  the  year 
by  a  German  diet,^  presided  over  by  the  Pope. 
Meanwhile  he  must  live  in  retirement,  and  make 
no  attempt  to  use  his  imperial  authority.  The 
nobles  planned  at  this  diet  to  choose  another  in 
Henry's  place,  and  so  be  rid  of  him. 

Henry  saw  one  way  out.  He  could  try  to  get 
his  excommunication  removed  at  once,  instead  of 
waiting  a  year.  If  he  thus  made  his  peace  with 
the  Pope,  his  position  in  regard  to  his  throne  would 
be  much  stronger.  He  determined  to  stake  every- 
thing on  this  one  chance.  With  his  queen  and 
their  infant  child,  he  set  out  in  midwinter  on  a 
hasty  journey  to  Italy,  crossing  the  Alps  through 
deep  snows  and  great  hardships.  At  the  castle  of 
Henry  at  Cauossa,  in  Lombardy,  in  January  of  1077,  he 
found  the  Pope.  Hildebrand  refused  to  see  him, 
and  for  three  days  friends  of  both  debated  terms 
of  reconciliation.  The  inexorable  Pope  would 
hear  to  nothing  but  Henry's  resignation  of  his 
crown,  and  to  this  Henry  would  not  consent. 
Finally  he  determined  to  gain  pardon  by  abject 

*  The  diet  was  the  assembly  of  the  nobles  of  the  empire. 


Canossa 


HEIGHT  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES         105 

humiliation.  Early  one  winter  morning,  barefoot, 
and  wearing  only  a  coarse  woolen  shirt,  the  em- 
peror knocked  at  the  castle  gate.  All  day  he  stood 
and  knocked,  in  vain.  For  two  days  more  the 
monarch  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  thus  implored 
mercy.  Finally  Hildebrand  relented  so  far  as  to 
discuss  conditions  of  pardon.  The  outcome  was 
that  the  excommunication  was  lifted  from  the  em- 
peror. But  he  had  to  promise  that  he  would  sub- 
mit his  title  to  his  crown  to  the  decision  of  his 
nobles,  and  that  in  case  he  should  keep  it  he  would 
obey  the  Pope  in  all  things  concerning  the  church. 

Thus  at  Canossa  the  Pope  triumphed  over  the 
emperor.  But  Hildebrand 's  victory  proved  not  so 
complete  as  it  seemed  there.  He  had  overreached 
himself.  His  arrogance  and  cruel  severity  toward 
the  holder  of  the  greatest  kingly  power  on  earth, 
whom  men  regarded  as  ruling  by  God's  appoint- 
ment, roused  indignation  and  hostility.  In  Ger- 
many feeling  turned  in  Henry's  favor.  He  gath- 
ered followers  and  fought  for  his  throne.  Scorning 
the  thunders  of  Hildebrand,  who  again  excommuni- 
cated and  deposed  him,  he  led  an  army  into  Italy 
and  entered  Rome.  It  was  during  troubles  which 
followed  this  that  Hildebrand  left  Rome,  never  to 
return.  As  he  lay  dying  a  few  years  later,  he 
said,  ''I  have  loved  righteousness,  and  hated  in- 
iquity, and  yet  I  die  in  exile." 

Yet  the  famous  scene  at  Canossa  did  mean  a  vie-    outcome  of 
tory  for  Hildebrand  and  the  church.     The  victory    contest  be- 

*'  tween  Pope 

was   assured   forty-five   years   later  by   an   agree-    and  emperor 
ment  between  the  emperor  and  the  Pope  of  that 


106    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


Abolition  of 

clerical 

marriage 


Reasons  for 

Hildebrand's 

opposition  to 

clerical 

marriage 


time.  All  these  years  the  contest  continued,  but 
in  1122  it  was  ended  by  a  compromise.  The  bish- 
ops were  to  be  elected  by  the  clergy,  and  the  Popes 
were  to  invest  them  with  their  spiritual  office. 
The  emperor  was  to  invest  them  with  their  lands 
and  their  authority  as  temporal  rulers.  Thus  the 
emperor  got  the  power  over  those  who  held  land 
in  his  domains,  on  which  he  had  insisted.  But 
the  church  carried  its  point,  that  it  must  be  free 
to  choose  its  own  officers. 

The  third  thing  which  Hildebrand  thought 
necessary  for  the  church's  freedom  from  the 
world  was  the  abolition  of  clerical  marriage.  Con- 
cerning this  he  shared  the  opinion  of  the  reform- 
ing party  to  which  he  belonged.^  He  thought  that 
married  priests  could  not  put  the  church's  wel- 
fare first  in  their  lives,  for  their  chief  interest  must 
be  to  provide  for  their  children.  It  seemed  to 
him  that  they  could  not  help  being  entangled  in 
worldly  affairs,  to  the  neglect  of  their  religious 
duties.  Of  course  the  experience  of  the  parts  of 
the  Christian  Church  where  there  has  been  a  mar- 
ried ministry  has  shown  that  the  fears  felt  by 
him  and  his  party  were  groundless. 

But  in  order  to  understand  Hildebrand's  views 
on  this  subject,  we  need  to  remember  that  to  many 
of  the  positions  held  by  the  clergy  there  were  at- 
tached valuable  lands.  This  was  especially  true 
in  the  case  of  the  bishops,  as  we  have  said.  Many 
of  them  ruled  large  territories,  like  great  nobles 
or  princes.     We  can  see  how  Hildebrand  came  to 


iSee  p.  94. 


HEIGHT  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES         107 

think  that  men  so  situated,  if  they  had  families, 
would  be  too  strongly  tempted  to  devote  themselves 
to  looking  out  for  them.  He  feared  that  thus  the 
ministry  of  the  church  would  become  a  hereditary 
caste,  caring  principally  for  its  own  possessions. 
It  should  also  be  remembered  that  while  clerical 
marriage  w^as  common,  it  was  strictly  forbidden 
by  church  law,  and  that  in  many  cases  it  was  a 
cloak  for  immorality.  Furthermore,  much  of 
Hildebrand's  whole  policy  finds  explanation  in 
his  intense  belief  that  the  monk's  life  is  the  only 
true  Christian  life.  Though,  strange  to  say,  he 
was  not  himself  a  monk,  he  was  leader  of  a  re- 
forming party  composed  of  monks,  and  he  strove 
to  bring  the  life  of  all  the  clergy  of  the  church 
into  accord  with  the  monkish  ideal.  One  way  to 
accomplish  this  was  to  make  all  the  clergy  celibates. 

Against  clerical  marriage  Hildebrand  fought  His  war 
bitterly  with  every  weapon  of  church  law  and  dis-  ^s^'"**  ** 
cipline  and  of  popular  agitation.  He  broke  up 
existing  marriages  by  a  cruel  persecution.  The 
monks  under  his  command  stirred  up  the  people 
to  abhor  married  priests.  Though  he  did  not  se- 
cure the  entire  abolition  of  clerical  marriage,  he 
greatly  decreased  it,  and  created  a  strong  and  last- 
ing feeling  in  the  church  against  it.  From  that 
time  the  general  sentiment  of  the  church  con- 
demned it. 

We  have  seen  what  things  Hildebrand  thought   The  Pope  to 
necessary  in   order  to   free  the   church  from  the ''^^"^''J"'"*^ 

*'  monarch  over 

world.      We    have    also    seen    that    he    meant    to     the  church 
achieve  these  things  by  the  use  of  the  papal  power. 


108    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

For  carrying  out  his  policy,  it  was  needful  that 
the  Pope  should  be  supreme  in  the  church.  His 
idea  was  to  make  the  church  an  absolute  mon- 
archy, under  the  bishop  of  Rome.  All  other 
bishops,  all  the  clergy,  all  monastics,  were  to  be 
absolutely  subject  to  him.  By  bold  and  sweep- 
ing assertions  of  the  supremacy  of  the  successor 
of  Peter,  backed  up  by  his  power  of  excommuni- 
cation, he  to  a  great  extent  succeeded  in  his  pur- 
pose. From  his  time  the  Pope's  will  was  law  for 
the  church  far  more  than  it  had  been  before. 

h.  The  Church  to  Be  Supreme  over  the  World 

But  so  far  we  have  seen  only  a  part  of  Hilde- 
brand's  great  dream.  He  planned  not  only  to  free 
the  church  from  the  world,  but  also  when  this 
had  been  done,  to  make  it  supreme  over  the  world. 
The  church,  ruled  by  the  Pope,  was  to  be  the 
sovereign  power  of  the  world.  To  it  all  other 
powers  were  to  be  subject.  From  the  Pope,  the 
church's  representative  and  head,  all  kings  and 
rulers  were  to  take  orders.  They  were  to  exer- 
cise authority  under  the  Pope's  supervision.  The 
Pope  was  to  have  the  right  to  depose  them  and 
release  their  subjects  from  obedience  to  them  if 
they  disobeyed  his  supreme,  divine  authority.  The 
world  was  to  be  a  kind  of  United  States,  in  which 
all  kingdoms  were  to  be  governed  according  to  the 
sovereign  will  of  the  head  of  the  church. 
Hiidebrand's       rj^j^jg  ^g  -j-j^g  stupcudous  Hildcbrandinc  idea  of 

idea  of  the  '■ 

papacy  as  the  the  papacy ;  the  Pope  is  to  be  supreme  ruler  of 
^oTthe^OTidT"^ the  church,  and  as  the  head  of  the  church  he  is 


HEIGHT  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES         109 

to  be  supreme  ruler  of  the  world.  To  comprehend 
this  idea  taxes  our  minds,  and  it  is  a  mark  of  Hil- 
debrand's  greatness  that  his  mind  first  conceived 
it.  In  the  light  of  the  history  since  his  time,  we 
can  see  that  the  idea  was  a  colossal  mistake.  Such 
a  papacy  as  he  conceived  would  be  destructive  to 
national  life,  to  liberty,  and  to  Christianity.  But 
in  order  to  understand  Hildebrand  we  must  try 
to  look  at  things  with  his  light,  not  with  ours. 

"We  all  believe  that  Christianity  ought  to  rule 
the  world.  Now  for  the  men  of  western  Europe 
in  the  ]\Iiddle  Ages,  to  say  this  was  to  say  that  the  Thought  of 
church  ought  to  rule  the  world;  because  for  them  on this^subject 
Christianity  and  the  one  church  in  which  they  saw 
Christianity  embodied  were  identical.  They  did 
not  think  of  Christianity  apart  from  the  church, 
that  is,  the  church  which  they  knew,  the  Roman 
Church.  There  were  a  few  dissenters  who  made  a 
distinction  between  these  two ;  ^  but  probably  Hil- 
debrand, living  all  his  life  in  ecclesiastical  sur- 
roundings, had  never  heard  of  such  an  idea  as  that 
of  Christianity  apart  from  the  church.  And  this 
was  true  of  practically  all  men  of  his  time.  A  man 
of  his  age  and  his  training,  having  a  desire  to  make 
Christianity  supreme  over  the  world,  could  not 
help  thinking  that  the  only  practical  way  to  bring 
this  about  was  to  make  the  church  the  supreme 
authority  in  the  world. 

Moreover,  for  a  man  of  Hildebrand 's  age  and 
training  the  supremacy  of  the  church  meant  the 
supremacy  of  the  papacy.     Unquestionably  almost 

^  On  the  dissenters  of  the  Middle  Ages,  see  Ch.  X. 


110  GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

all  Christian  men  of  that  day  in  Europe  regarded 
the  Pope  as  the  divinely  appointed  head  of  the 
church.  Therefore,  they  would  have  said,  if  the 
church  was  to  have  authority  over  the  world,  that 
authority  must  be  exercised  through  the  Pope. 
For  them,  the  sovereignty  of  Christianity  over 
the  world  would  be  attained  by  the  sovereign  rule 
of  the  papacy.  These  facts  about  the  thought  of 
Hildeb rand's  time  we  must  keep  in  mind,  if  we 
wish  to  do  justice  to  him  and  the  men  who  shared 
his  ideas. 

2.  Innocent  III 
Innocent  III       Hildcbrand's   idea   of  the   papacy's  supremacy 
Hiidebrand's  ^^^^  the  world  was  uot  SO  fully  realized  in  his 
idea        q^jj  pontificate  as  in  that  of  the  great  Innocent 

111  (1198-1216).  Under  him  the  medieval  church 
reached  the  summit  of  its  power.  His  clear  and 
strong  mind  grasped  in  its  fullness  the  tremendous 
meaning  of  the  Hildebrandine  idea.  The  over- 
whelming claims  which  it  implied  he  did  not  shrink 
from.  The  Pope,  he  said,  "stands  in  the  midst 
between  God  and  man;  .  .  .  less  than  God,  more 
than  man.  He  judges  all,  is  judged  by  none." 
Astute,  fearless,  inflexible,  he  really  attained  in 
great  measure  such  a  power  as  Hildebrand 
dreamed  of. 

Innocent  and  lunoccut  made  and  unmade  emperors,  success- 
fully asserting  that  their  crown  came  to  them  from 
the  Pope.  He  forced  King  Philip  of  France  and 
King  John  of  England  to  obey  him,  the  cause  of 
conflict  in  France  being  the  king's  putting  away 


the  rulers  of 
Europe 


HEIGHT  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES         111 

his  wife  for  another  woman,  and  in  England  a  dis- 
pute over  the  archbishopric  of  Canterbury.  The 
weapon  w^hich  he  used  to  bring  these  monarchs  to 
terms  was  the  interdict,  which  caused  the  suspen- 
sion of  all  religious  services  in  the  countries  con- 
cerned. The  churches  were  closed.  The  sacra- 
ments, which  people  universally  thought  the  means 
of  salvation,  were  not  administered.  The  dead  lay 
unburied.  Such  popular  outcry  arose  in  France 
and  England  that  the  kings  had  to  submit.  John 
even  surrendered  to  the  Pope  his  kingdoms  of 
England  and  Ireland,  and  received  them  back  as 
feudal  lands.  This  means  that  he  acknowledged 
them  to  be  the  property  of  the  Pope,  which  he  was 
allowed  to  hold,  paying  yearly  tribute  as  acknowl- 
edgement of  the  Pope's  sovereignty.  Innocent  was 
recognized  as  overlord  of  the  kingdom  of  Sicily, 
and  from  him  the  king  of  Aragon  received  his 
crown.  Almost  everywhere  in  Europe  he  asserted 
his  authority,  and  almost  always  with  success. 

His  only  noteworthy  failure  was  in  England. 
It  was  after  King  John's  submission  to  the  Pope 
that  the  barons,  unable  longer  to  endure  his  abom- 
inable and  oppressive  reign,  compelled  him  to  sign 
Magna  Charta,  the  charter  which  is  the  comer 
stone  of  English  freedom.  Innocent  took  the  side 
of  the  king,  since  John  had  now  become  an  obedi- 
ent son  of  the  church.  He  issued  a  bull  ^  annull- 
ing Magna  Charta  and  ordering  the  barons  to  sub- 
mit themselves  to  their  king.  They  ignored  his  ar- 
rogant demands,  however,  and  only  his  death  about 

1  The   decrees  of  the   Popes  were   called   "bulls." 


112    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

this  time  saved  him  from  a  conspicuous  defeat. 
The  papacy  Thus  Under  lunoccut  III  the  papacy  ruled  the 
the  Empire  world  of  wcstcm  Europc  with  almost  undisputed 
and  is  supreme  sway.  Or,  we  may  say,  the  church  ruled  the 
world,  through  its  head,  the  Pope.  Through  the 
thirteenth  century  the  church  remained  at  this 
height  of  power.  During  this  century  the  papacy 
finally  overthrew  its  great  rival,  the  Holy  Roman 
Empire.  Between  Popes  Gregory  IX  and  Inno- 
cent IV  and  the  emperor  Frederick  II  there  was  a 
long  war  of  both  words  and  arms.  In  1248  it 
ended  in  total  defeat  for  Frederick.  After  his 
death  two  years  later  his  little  son  held  a  shadowy 
power  for  a  few  years,  and  then  there  was  no  em- 
peror for  nineteen  years.  So  the  papacy  held  the 
field  triumphant,  and  ruled  without  a  rival.  At 
the  end  of  the  nineteen  years  the  empire  was  re- 
vived by  the  election  of  an  emperor;  but  it  never 
was  so  strong  as  before  the  papal  victory. 

B.     THE    CHURCH   RULING   THE   WESTERN   WORLD 

The  church's  Jn  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries  the 
ove"iife  church  ruled  human  life  in  Western  Europe.  It 
was  an  international  society,  extending  into  and 
over  all  kingdoms.  Its  government  had  authority 
far  exceeding  that  of  any  civil  government.  For 
what  the  church  bound  and  loosed  on  earth  would 
surely,  men  believed,  be  bound  and  loosed  in 
heaven;  and  the  church  was  so  widespread  and 
well  organized  as  to  reach  all  men  with  its  sway. 
On  every  part  of  human  life  the  church  laid  its 
controlling  hand;    nothing  that  men  did  it  left 


HEIGHT  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES         113 

alone.     Probably  no  human  organization  has  ever 
exercised  such  power. 

1.  The  Extent  of  the  Church 

In  A.  D.  1200  only  a  little  of  Europe  was  out-       Europe 
side  Christendom.     In  eastern  and  southern  Rus-     "^'!"!"*"f 

Chnstian  in 

sia  there  were  heathen  Asiatics.  Southern  Spain  the  thirteenth 
was  held  by  the  Moors,  and  there  Mohammedan-  ^^"^^^^ 
ism  ruled.  The  inhabitants  of  the  eastern  and 
southeastern  shores  of  the  Baltic  Sea  were  still 
heathen.  In  the  twelfth  century  they  were  forced 
by  long  and  bloody  wars,  during  which  some  real 
missionary  work  was  done,  to  accept  Christianity. 
Thus  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries 
Christianity  was  the  religion  of  almost  all  of 
Europe.  By  this  is  meant  that  church  organiza- 
tion covered  most  of  the  continent,  that  knowledge 
of  Christianity  was  possible  for  almost  all  of  its 
inhabitants,  and  that  Christianity  was  the  official 
religion  of  all  kingdoms,  except  the  Moorish.  In 
this  nominally  Christian  continent  Russia  and 
Greece  and  most  of  the  Balkan  peninsula  ^  be- 
longed to  the  Eastern  Church.  The  rest  of  Europe 
belonged  to  the  Western,  or  Roman  Church,  Thus 
this  great  international  organization  included  the 
nations  which  were  to  have  most  influence  in  the 
world  for  many  centuries. 

2.  The  Churches  War   against  Islam — The  Crusades 

In  this  time  of  its  largest  power  the  Western 
Church  made   a   great   and   long-continued   effort 

^  The  Eastern  Empire  held  Constantinople  until  1453. 


114    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

to  increase  its  territory  by  capturing  from  the 
Moslems  the  Holy  Land.  This  was  in  the  Crusades, 
the  series  of  wars  which  Western  Christendom 
waged  against  the  Moslem  power  in  the  East  dur- 
ing two  hundred  years  (1096-1291).  This  great 
movement  of  West  against  East  was  vastly  influ- 
ential in  religion,  politics,  commerce  and  intel- 
lectual life.  Its  story  is  full  of  wonderful  scenes 
and  fascinating  personalities.  No  part  of  history 
contains  more  romance  and  color.  We  do  not  by 
any  means  sum  up  the  whole  truth  about  the  Cru- 
sades when  we  say  that  they  were  a  great  attempt 
of  the  church  to  enlarge  its  territory;  yet  tliis  is 
part  of  the  truth.  This  is  not  to  say  that  the 
church  caused  the  crusades.  As  is  true  of  all 
great  movements,  they  were  brought  about  by 
causes  that  had  been  working  for  many  years. 
Causes  of  the  Q^g  of  thesc  was  the  custom,  long  prevalent,  of 
(1)  Custom  of  going  on  pilgrimages  to  the  Holy  Land.  Thou- 
piigrimage  to  gands  had  made  the  toilsome  journey  to  Palestine, 
and  visited  and  prayed  at  the  places  associated 
with  our  Lord's  life,  above  all  at  the  holy  sepul- 
cher.  Of  all  the  things  that  men  could  do  to  win 
favor  in  the  sight  of  God  and  earn  his  forgiveness, 
the  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy  Land  was  accounted  the 
most  efficacious.  The  palmers,  as  returned  pil- 
grims were  called,  from  the  palm  leaves  which  they 
brought  back,  were  everywhere  venerated  as  holy 
men,  all  the  rest  of  their  lives.  Wlierever  they 
went  they  were  known  by  their  distinctive  dress 
and  were  regarded  as  entitled  to  receive  hospitality 
from    all    Christians.      Pilgrims    went    sometimes 


HEIGHT  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 


115 


alone,  sometimes  in  companies,  often  of  large 
numbers.  Rich  and  poor,  noble  and  serf,  priest 
and  layman,  went  on  pilgrimage.  This  old  and 
general  custom  led  naturally  to  the  Crusades, 
which,  in  one  way  of  looking  at  them,  were  great 
organized  pilgrimages. 

The  dangerous  advance  of  Islam  was  another  (2)  Advance  of 
cause.  How  far  the  Arabs  conquered  and  ex-  '^'*™-  '^^^ 
tended  their  religion  we  saw  in  Chapter  V.  After 
the  eighth  century  their  fighting  spirit  subsided, 
and  they  and  their  religion  made  no  important  for- 
ward movement.  But  in  the  eleventh  century,  the 
Seljuk  Turks,  a  barbarous,  warlike  people  from 
central  Asia,  took  from  the  Arabs  the  control  of 
the  Moslem  Empire.  They  brought  to  Islam  a  new 
aggressiveness.  They  conquered  a  great  part  of 
Asia  Minor,  and  threatened  Constantinople. 
Whereas  the  Arabs  had  become  on  the  whole 
rather  tolerant  toward  Christians,  the  Turks 
hated  Christianity  fiercely,  and  showed  this  by 
cruelty  to  pilgrims  to  the  Holy  Land.  Their  com- 
ing caused  Christian  Europe  to  feel  that  it  must 
unite  to  put  down  Christianity's  great  enemy,  and 
especially  to  rescue  the  holy  sepulcher  from  the 
hands  of  unbelievers. 

A  third  cause  was  the  love  of  fighting  and  war- 
like adventure  which  was  so  strong  in  that  age, 
particularly  in  the  upper  classes  of  society.  The 
life  most  honored  among  them  was  that  of  the 
true  knight,  the  life  of  warfare  in  defense  of  the 
weak  and  in  behalf  of  right  and  Christianity. 
While  many  of  these  men  were  far  enough  from 


(3)  Love  of 

fighting  and 

knightly 

enterprise 


revival 


116    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

true  knights  in  personal  character,  still  they  sin- 
cerely regarded  the  knight  as  the  ideal  man.  Now 
the  Crusades,  wars  against  unbelievers  for  the 
possession  of  the  Holy  Land,  offered  an  enterprise 
perfectly  satisfying  this  spirit  of  chivalry.  Here 
was  opportunity  to  fight,  and  to  fight  for  what 
were  thought  the  noblest  objects. 

(4)  Religious  But  probably  the  greatest  factor  in  producing 
the  Crusades  was  the  growing  religious  enthusiasm 
of  the  times.  We  have  seen  that  there  was  a  re- 
vival of  religion  in  western  Europe  in  the  eleventh 
century.  This  stronger  religious  spirit  made  men 
desire  to  do  something  for  the  spread  of  Christian- 
ity; and  this  they  could  do  by  fighting  the  unbe- 
lievers. It  made  them  also  feel  a  keener  interest 
in  the  salvation  of  their  own  souls ;  and  the  thing 
counting  most  for  salvation,  they  thought,  was  to 
go  to  the  Holj^  Land,  as  soldiers  of  the  cross.  Not 
only  the  humble  and  the  ignorant  were  ruled  by 
such  desires  and  thoughts,  but  also  the  noble  and 
rich  and  powerful,  the  men  who  controlled  the  af- 
fairs of  the  world. 

The  cau  for  Thesc  forccs  wcre  working  in  the  life  of  west- 
ern Europe  in  the  eleventh  century,  making  its 
people  ready  to  enter  upon  the  Crusades.  Then 
the  call  of  tiie  church,  through  the  Popes,  gave 
the  final  impulse  and  set  the  forces  of  Christen- 
dom in  motion.  The  first  Crusade  was  pro- 
claimed in  1095  by  Pope  Urban  II.  The  East- 
em  emperor  Alexius,  hard  pressed  by  the  Turks, 
had  appealed  to  the  Pope  for  help.  At  a  church 
council   at   Clermont,    in   France,   where   a   great 


the  First 
Crusade 


HEIGHT  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES         117 


throng  was  assembled,  Urban  in  a  fiery  speech 
pleaded  for  the  rescue  of  the  holy  sepulcher  from 
the  disgrace  of  possession  by  unbelievers.  The 
multitude  was  sw^ept  away  with  wild  enthusiasm. 
At  once  many  ''took  the  cross,"  fastening  upon 
themselves  cloth  crosses  in  token  of  their  vow  to 
join  the  crusade.  The  Pope's  appeal  was  carried 
through  France  and  the  Rhine  Valley  by  wander- 
ing preachers,  chief  among  whom  was  Peter  the 
Hermit.  Wherever  they  went,  their  words  roused 
the  people  as  at  Clermont. 

The  next  year  the  Crusaders  started.  Several 
great  bands  of  poor  men,  really  fanatical  mobs, 
set  out  for  the  Holy  Land.  Naturally  these  ex- 
peditions came  to  nothing.  Two  of  them,  one  led 
by  Peter,  went  through  Constantinople  into  Asia 
Minor,  and  were  destroyed  by  the  Turks  at  Nicea. 
But  three  strong  armies  of  knights,  led  by  great 
nobles,  marched  across  Asia  Minor  and  after  a 
fearful  battle  captured  Jerusalem.  They  set  up 
what  is  called  the  Latin  Kingdom  of  Jerusalem, 
whose  first  king  was  Count  Baldwin  of  Flanders. 
Thus  the  holy  sepulcher  was  in  Christian  hands, 
and  Palestine  was  again  a  part  of  Christendom. 

After  this  Crusade  seven  others  were  made. 
They  were  occasioned  by  victories  of  the  Moslems, 
and  after  1187  by  the  fact  that  Jerusalem  was 
again  in  their  hands.  The  earlier  Crusades  were 
started  by  the  calls  of  Popes.  Thus  the  church 
held  the  leadership  of  this  great  movement  of 
united  Christian  Europe.  But  later  the  leader- 
ship passed  into  the  hands  of  the  kings.    The  re- 


The  First 
Crusade 


Later 
Crusades 


118    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

ligious    enthusiasm   without   which    the    Crusades 
could  never  have  taken  place  diminished  somewhat 
with  the  passage  of  years.     Motives  of  conquest 
and  wealth  grew  more  prominent. 
Children's         g^^  j^  ^^g  jj^  ^^g  second  century  of  the  Crusades 

that  the  religious  feeling  connected  with  them  found 
perhaps  its  most  wonderful  expression.  This  was 
in  the  pathetic  Children's  Crusade  (1212).  The 
preaching  of  two  boys  roused  thousands  of  boys  and 
girls  of  France  and  the  Rhine  Valley  to  go  to  rescue* 
the  holy  sepulcher.  They  left  their  homes  and 
started  for  Palestine,  believing  that  with  God's 
help  they  would  succeed  where  men  had  failed. 
A  multitude  of  them  actually  took  ships  at  Mar- 
seilles for  the  Holy  Land.  But  the  shipmasters 
were  slave-traders,  and  sold  the  boys  and  girls 
into  servitude  and  shame.  This  story,  almost  in- 
credible to  us,  shows  what  a  state  of  religious  ex- 
citement the  idea  of  going  on  crusade  produced  in 
Europe. 
Results  of  the  The  Crusadcs  failed  of  their  great  object.  At 
Crusades  ^j^^  ^^^  q£  ^^iq  two  ccnturics  Jerusalem  remained, 
as  ever  since,  in  Moslem  possession.  The  greatest 
attempt  ever  made  to  extend  Christendom  by  force 
came  to  nothing.  Yet  the  Crusades  had  very  im- 
portant results,  among  which  we  can  consider  only 
those  that  had  to  do  directly  with  Christianity. 
Eesulting  from  religious  feeling,  they  in  turn 
strengthened  its  hold.  The  tremendous  power 
which  religious  motives  exercised  in  western 
Europe  at  the  height  of  the  Middle  Ages  came 
in  part  from  this  great  expression  of  religious  en- 


HEIGHT  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES         119 

thusiasm,  in  which  all  its  nations  united.  The 
Crusades  also  strengthened  the  authority  of  pa- 
pacy; for  they  gave  the  Popes  the  opportunity 
of  taking  the  lead  in  an  undertaking  which  made 
the  strongest  possible  popular  appeal.  One  rea- 
son why  Innocent  III  came  nearer  realizing  Hil- 
deb rand's  ideal  for  the  papacy  than  Hildebrand 
himself  did,  was  that  between  them  there  came 
more  than  a  century  of  crusading,  greatly  increas- 
ing the  papal  power.  The  Crusades  also  increased 
intolerance.  Fighting  against  unbelievers  abroad 
made  men  more  ready  to  use  force  against  those 
nearer  home  who  did  not  submit  to  the  church's 
teaching.  After  a  century  of  Crusades  came  the 
terrible  war  against  the  Albigensian  heretics  of 
southeastern  France/  and  tJie  establishment  of 
the  Inquisition.- 

QUESTIONS  FOR  STUDY 

1.  What    is    Hildebrand 's    place    in    the    history    of    the 
papacy  ? 

2.  What  were  the  great  features  of  his  policy? 

3.  Explain  these  parts  of  his  plan  for  freeing  the  church 
from  the  world: 

a.  The  election  of  the  Pope  by  the  cardinals. 

b.  The  abolition  of  lay  investiture. 

c.  The  abolition  of  clerical  marriage. 

4.  Describe  his  conflict  with  Henry  IV.     What  were  its 
results  1 

5.  What  did  Hildebrand  do  for  the  power  of  the  Pope 
in  the  church"? 


1  See  p.  132,  and  Vol.  II,  pp.  6-7. 

2  See  pp.  131-132, 


120    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

6.  What  was  Hildebrand's  idea  of  the  position  of  the 
Pope  in  the  Tivorld? 

7.  What  does  this  idea  mean,  when  interpreted  in  the 
light  of  the  thoughts  of  that  time? 

8.  Describe  the  power  of  the  papacy  under  Innocent  III. 

9.  Describe  the  final  conflict  between  the  church  and  the 
empire. 

10.  How  great  was  the  power  of  the  church  over  human 
life  in  western  Europe? 

11.  How  far  was  Europe  Christian  in  A.  D.  1200?  What 
was  the  extent  of  the  Western  or  Roman  Church  at  this 
time?  Why  were  the  nations  included  in  it  especially  im- 
portant! 

12.  What  were  the  Crusades? 

13.  Explain  these  causes  of  the  Crusades: 

a.  The  custom  of  pilgrimage  to  Palestine. 

b.  The  advance  of  Islam. 
e.  The  spirit  of  chivalry. 

d.  The  religious  revival  of  the  eleventh  century. 

14.  Describe  the  First  Crusade. 

15.  What  were  the  results  of  the  Crusades? 


READING 

Workman:  "The  Church  of  the  West  in  the  Middle 
Ages, ' '  Vol.  I,  chs.  IV,  V,  Vol.  II,  ch.  I,  on  Hildebrand  and 
the  conflict  of  church  and  empire;  Vol.  II,  ch.  Ill,  on  In- 
nocent III;  Vol.  II,  ch.  II,  on  the  Moslem  conquests  and  the 
Crusades. 

Bryce:  ''The  Holy  Roman  Empire,''  chs.  X,  XI,  XIII, 
on  church  and  empire. 

Milman:  "Latin  Christianity,"  Books  VII-X,  on  the 
Popes  of  the  period,  the  conflict  of  church  and  empire,  and 
the  Crusades ;    especially  Book  IX,  on  Innocent  III. 

Schaff:  "History  of  the  Christian  Church,"  Vol.  V, 
Part  I,  chs.  II-VI,  on  the  papacy  and  the  church  and  em- 
pire;   ch.  VII,  on  the  Crusades;    ch.  IX,  on  missions. 

Stephens:    "Hildebrand  and  His  Times." 


HEIGHT  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES         121 

Medley:  ''The  Church  and  the  Empire/'  ch.  XIV,  on 
church  extension  in  this  period. 

Article  ' '  Crusades, ' '  in.  "  Encyclopedia  Britannica. ' ' 

Ludlow:    ''The  Age  of  the  Crusades." 

Adams:  "Civilization  in  the  Middle  Ages,"  ch.  XI,  on 
the  Crusades  and  their  results. 

Thatcher  and  McNeal  's  ' '  Source  Book  of  Medieval  His- 
tory" contains  many  important  original  documents;  pp.  132- 
259  on  the  papacy;   pp.  513-544  on  the  Crusades. 


CHAPTER  Vin 

THE  CHURCH  AT  THE  HEIGHT  OF  THE 
MIDDLE  AGES   (Continued) 

(A.  D.  1073-1294) 

I.  THE   WESTEEN   CHURCH    (Continued) 

B.     THE    CHURCH   RULING   THE   WESTERN   WORLD 
(Continued) 

3.  The  Wealth  of  the  Church 

Property  of  In  Order  to  understand  the  overwhelming  power 
the  church  Qf  ^Y\e  Roman  Church  in  the  Middle  Ages,  we  need 
to  realize  not  only  its  extent  in  territory,  but  also 
the  greatness  of  its  possessions.  Its  wealth  con- 
sisted of  lands,  buildings  used  for  religious  pur- 
poses, with  their  furniture  and  ornaments,  which 
often  were  very  costly,  and  other  buildings.  Much 
of  the  church's  land  had  come  to  it  by  gift  from 
devout  persons.  Much  also  was  held  on  feudal 
tenure  ^  by  bishops  and  monasteries.  There  were 
also  the  Papal  States,  a  large  region  in  central 
Italy  of  which  the  Pope  was  sovereign.^  In  one 
way  and  another  the  church  held  a  large  part  of 
the  land  of  western  Europe.  Probably  it  would 
not  be  far  out  of  the  way  to  say  that  in  France, 


1  This  means  that  kings  had  panted  to  bishops  and  monas- 
teries lands  which  they  were  allowed  to  hold  and  enjoy,  on  condi- 
tion of  supplying  the  king  with  a  certain  number  of  soldiers  in 
war  and  paying  him  a  certain  portion  of  the  proceeds  of  the  lands. 

2  See  p.   78. 

122 


HEIGHT  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES         123 

Germany  and  England  it  held  a  quarter  of  the 
land.    In  Italy  and  Spain  it  had  more. 

A  vast  income  flowed  to  the  church  from  these  its  income 
lands,  from  the  tithes,  which  were  church  taxes 
paid  by  all  persons,  from  fees  for  religious  serv- 
ices, and  from  the  sale  of  indulgences.^  The  Pope 
had  an  income  of  his  own,  from  the  Papal  States, 
from  Peter's  pence,  a  contribution  made  by  the 
faithful  everywhere,  from  taxes  on  the  clergy, 
from  pajanents  of  bishops  in  connection  with  their 
obtaining  office,  and  from  fees  of  many  kinds. 

Thus  this  great  international  church  was  the 
richest  power  in  Europe,  far  surpassing  any  gov- 
ernment in  financial  resources.  Even  if  men  had 
not  believed  in  its  divine  authority,  it  would  have 
had  tremendous  influence  by  reason  of  its  wealth. 

It  ought  to  be  remembered,  however,  that  the  charitable  use 
church  maintained  extensive  charities.  In  our  °  "^^ 
time  a  vast  amount  of  charitable  work  is  done  by 
governments  and  by  private  organizations  and  in- 
stitutions not  connected  with  churches.  In  the 
Middle  Ages  there  was  very  little  of  this.  Prac- 
tically all  that  was  done  for  the  relief  of  need  was 
done  by  the  church.  While  no  doubt  much  of  the 
wealth  of  the  church  was  used  selfishly,  large  sums 
were  spent  for  the  sick  and  the  poor. 

4.  The  Organization  of  the  Church 

The  Pope  was  the  monarch  of  the  church,  and    The  Pope's 
nearly  an  absolute  monarch.    All  bishops  exercised       powers 
their  authority  in  obedience  to  him.    Furthermore 

1  See  p.  129. 


124    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

the  Popes  constantly  asserted  an  immediate  author- 
ity, going  over  the  heads  of  bishops  and  directly 
ruling  affairs  in  their  dioceses.  While  bishops  were 
nominally  elected,  from  the  time  of  Innocent  III 
the  Popes  more  and  more  controlled  the  choice  of 
them.  Most  of  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
monks  were  under  the  direct  control  of  the  Pope, 
which  gave  him  enormous  power.  Papal  decrees 
were  accepted  as  practically  equal  in  authority  to 
decisions  of  church  councils.  With  the  Pope  was 
the  last  appeal  in  all  cases  arising  in  the  church 
courts.  From  the  civil  courts  also  many  cases  were 
appealed  to  him. 
Powers  and  Under  the  Pope  were  the  archbishops,  ruling 
^'"btsho's*^^  "provinces"  composed  of  several  dioceses.  Then 
came  the  bishops,  each  governing  his  diocese.  The 
bishop  had  general  charge  of  church  affairs  in  his 
diocese.  He  had  the  oversight  of  its  clergy,  looked 
after  charities,  and  supervised  schools.  He  held 
court  for  the  trial  of  cases  under  church  law.  He 
only  could  give  confirmation  and  ordination.  Be- 
cause of  their  great  holdings  in  land,  many  arch- 
bishops and  bishops  were  powerful  temporal  as 
well  as  spiritual  rulers.  Their  wealth  enabled 
them  to  live  in  princely  state,  and  they  could  put 
armies  in  the  field. 
Powers  and  The  pcrsou  through  whom  the  common  people 
came  into  immediate  contact  with  the  church  was, 
of  course,  the  parish  priest.  The  medieval  priest 
had  a  power  never  seen  in  the  modern  world.  Be- 
cause in  his  keeping  were  the  sacraments,  which 
were   believed  to  be  necessary   for  salvation,   he 


duties  of 
parish  priests 


HEIGHT  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 


125 


wielded  a  dread  authority.  Through  the  confes- 
sional he  held  the  conduct  of  his  people  under  hia 
inspection.  He  gave  the  boys  and  girls  religious 
instruction,  and  sometimes  elementary  general 
education.  Since  schools  were  few,  what  he  gave 
was  all  the  education  that  many  of  the  poor  re- 
ceived. He  dispensed  charity  out  of  the  alms  box  of 
the  church.  The  priest  was  minister,  school-teacher, 
police  force,  judge  in  small  cases,  and  superin- 
tendent of  the  poor,  all  in  one.  Not  all  priests 
performed  all  these  duties,  for  among  them  were 
much  laziness,  ignorance  and  immorality.  But 
tremendous  power  belonged  to  the  priest's  office, 
and  we  must  realize  this  in  order  to  understand 
the  church's  control  over  human  life  in  the  Mid- 
dle Ages. 

Besides  this  ordinary  organization  which  we 
have  been  describing,  the  church  had  at  its  serv- 
ice another  very  powerful  kind  of  organization,  in 
the  monastic  orders.  In  the  story  of  the  Cluniac 
reform  movement  we  have  seen  how  influential 
monasticism  was  in  the  church.  After  a  while 
this  movement  spent  its  force,  and  monastic  life 
began  to  fall  away  again  from  its  ideals.  The 
needed  reform  and  revival  came  in  the  late  eleventh 
and  twelfth  centuries.  Several  new  orders  of 
monks  were  founded,  and  many  nevv^  monasteries 
were  established.  Chief  among  these  new  orders  j^e  Cistercians 
was  the  Cistercian,  to  which  belonged  many  mon- 
asteries now  famous,  though  in  ruins,  such  as 
Fountains  Abbey  in  England.  The  leader  of  the 
Cistercians,  and  the  inspirer  of  much  of  this  re- 


Monastics 


Monastic 
revival 


126    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

vival  of  enthusiasm  for  monastic  life,  was  Ber- 
nard, abbot  of  Clairvaux,  one  of  the  best  and  great- 
est men  of  the  Middle  Ages.^    Witliin  forty  years 
five  hundred  abbeys  of  his  order  were  established, 
and  into  them  went  thousands  of  men,  many  of 
them  the  best  men  of  their  time.    In  the  Cistercian 
abbeys,  under  the  influence  of  the  saintly  Bernard, 
monastic  life  appeared  once  more  reformed  and 
made  more  worthy  of  its  old  ideals.     This  is  true 
also  of  other  orders  founded  at  this  time. 
Monastidsm       Originally    every   monastery   acknowledged   the 
and  the  papacy  authority  of  the  bishop  of  the  diocese  in  which  it 
was  situated.    But  the  Popes  encroached  upon  the 
bishops  in  this  as  in  other  respects,  and  more  and 
more  took  monasteries  under  their  own   control. 
Then  came  the  Cistercians,  who  from  the  first  were 
governed  immediately  by  the  Pope.    Their  example 
strengthened  the  tendency  toward  papal  control 
of  other  monastics.    In  the  end  most  of  the  monks 
obeyed  the  Pope  only.     Monasticism  and  the  pa- 
pacy, the  two  principal  institutions  of  the  medieval 
church,  were  closely  bound  together.     Throughout 
Europe  were  scattered  thousands  of  monasteries, 
many  of  them  possessing  rich  landed  properties, 
filled  with  men  who  owned  no  master  but  the  Pope. 
Here  was  a  chief  bulwark  of  the  papal  power. 
Service  of  the      Western  Europe  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth 
monks       ceuturies  was  a  much  more  civilized  and  orderly 
world  than  it  was  in  the  earlier  ages  of  monasti- 
cism.    Hence  there  was  less  need  for  some  of  the 
kinds   of   service   which   had   been   given   by  the 

iSee  pp.   141-144. 


HEIGHT  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES         127 

monasteries.  Still  they  continued  to  be  very  use- 
ful to  the  world.  We  cannot  be  too  grateful  to 
the  monks  for  their  work  for  literature  and  learn- 
ing in  making  many  copies  of  books  and  preserv- 
ing them  in  their  libraries.  The  monasteries  gave 
other  services,  touching  more  nearly  the  life  of  the 
common  people.  Their  schools  provided  free  edu- 
cation. When  the  universities  arose  (about  1200), 
higher  learning  mostly  left  the  monks'  cloisters 
and  sought  a  home  in  these  new  institutions;  but 
the  monastery  schools  still  gave  the  best  that  there 
was  in  education  below  the  university  level.  Their 
hospitals  cared  for  the  sick  and  for  poor  travelers. 
Their  almsgiving  was  often  generous.  In  plague 
and  famine,  horrors  familiar  to  the  Middle  Ages, 
the  stricken  and  the  famished  found  more  help  in 
the  monks'  houses  than  anywhere  else. 

Doubtless  there  was  much  corruption  in  medieval  Monastic 
monastic  life,  in  spite  of  all  reforms.  The  testi-  '^**""^*^**" 
mony  of  monks  and  nuns  of  that  time  leaves  no 
room  for  doubt  about  this.  Yet,  as  Principal 
Workman  says,  ''It  is  incontestable  that  until 
the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century  the  monks  as  a 
body  were  far  better  than  their  age."  In  the  time 
which  we  are  now  studying,  the  w^orst  fault  of  the 
monastic  orders  was  not  personal  immorality,  but 
selfishness,  resulting  from  wealth.  Though  re- 
formers constantly  fought  against  it,  most  mon- 
asteries acquired  property,  and  many  of  them  great 
property.  It  came  by  gift,  and  by  the  labor  of 
the  monks.  Growing  wealth  caused  the  monks  to 
care  more  for  the  possessions  of  their  houses  and 


128    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

the  comforts  thus  procured  than  for  service  to 
others  or  the  cultivation  of  their  own  spiritual 
lives. 

Of  the  great  Franciscan  and  Dominican  orders, 
which  may  be  called  monastic,  but  which  differed 
much  from  the  earlier  orders,  we  shall  speak  in 
the  next  chapter. 

5.  The  Discipline  and  Law  of  the  Church 

Discipline  was  the  church's  chief  method  of  giv- 
ing moral  training  to  its  people.  In  modern  Prot- 
estant churches  this  is  given  by  Christian  teach- 
ing, in  sermons,  Sunday  school,  and  private  con- 
versation, and  by  personal  influence.  But  the 
medieval  church  gave  it  by  its  discipline.  As  we 
saw  in  Chapter  IV,  this  was  introduced  on  a  large 
scale  when  a  great  mass  of  barbarians  was  thrown 
in  upon  the  church,  who  had  to  be  schooled  into 
civilized  and  Christian  living.  Through  the  Mid- 
dle Ages  discipline  had  been  developed  until  in 
the  time  we  are  now  considering  it  had  become  an 
elaborate  system. 
Confession,  All  pcrsous  Were  required  to  confess  to  a  priest 
''absoiuHon**  ^^  least  oucc  a  year.^  Those  who  confessed  had 
to  do  penance  according  to  the  degree  of  their  sins. 
Penance  consisted  of  acts  involving  sacrifice — for 
example,  fastings,  scourgings,  pilgrimages — the 
performance  of  which  was  accepted  as  proof  of 


^  The  Lateran  Council  of  1215,  in  the  reign  of  Innocent  III, 
made  annual  confession  obligatory  upon  those  who  had  reached 
years  of  discretion.  Thus  what  the  church  had  long  been  re- 
quiring  became   formally   part   of   its   law. 


HEIGHT  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES         129 

true  sorrow  for  sin.  Books  prescribing  in  great 
detail  the  penances  proper  to  various  kinds  of 
sins  were  much  used  by  the  priests.  The  idea  of 
the  penitential  system  was  that  men  would  be  kept 
from  wrongdoing  by  the  knowledge  that  it  would 
bring  upon  them  heavy  tasks  to  obtain  absolution. 
When  the  penance  had  been  done,  the  priest  pro- 
nounced absolution.  In  the  early  Middle  Ages 
this  was  generally  considered  a  declaration  that 
God  had  forgiven  the  sinner.  Later  the  idea  pre- 
vailed that  the  church,  through  its  priests,  could 
not  merely  declare  but  actually  give  forgiveness. 
The  church,  it  was  thought,  had  the  divine  for- 
giveness to  bestow  upon  men.  Thus  the  priest's 
absolution  was  a  real  release  from  sin. 

By  confession,  penance  and  absolution,  it  was 
taught,  the  guilt  of  sin  was  removed,  and  with  the 
guilt  the  eternal  punishment  due  to  sin.    But  there  Ptu^gatory  and 

indulgences 

still  remained  what  were  called  the  temporal  con- 
sequences of  sin,  the  chief  part  of  which  were  the 
pains  of  purgatory.  This  was  a  state  of  purify- 
ing punishment  through  which  the  sinner  must 
pass  before  entering  final  blessedness.  The  church 
taught  that  it  had  power  to  shorten  these  pains 
for  those  who  while  still  on  earth  satisfied  its  re- 
quirements. Such  a  lightening  of  purgatory  was 
called  an  indulgence.  Indulgences  could  be  ob- 
tsl'ined  by  the  doing  of  acts  like  those  required  for 
penance.  In  the  late  Middle  Ages  they  were  sold 
for  money,  and  it  was  taught  that  people  could 
obtain  indulgences  not  only  for  themselves  but  also 
for  those  who  had  died. 


130    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

We  find  it  hard  to  understand  this  system  of 
discipline.  For  we  know  that  every  human  being 
can  go  straight  to  God  and  speak  to  him  and  ob- 
tain his  forgiveness,  and  that  therefore  no  priest 
is  needed  to  stand  between  men  and  God.  We 
know  also  that  great  errors  and  evils  arose  from 
this  cumbersome  machinery.  We  need  to  remem- 
ber that  the  whole  thing  was  the  church's  way  of 
training  and  curbing  the  strong,  lawless  human  na- 
ture with  which  it  had  to  deal  in  the  heathen  or 
half-heathen  peoples  of  western  Europe. 
Treatment  of  On  thosc  wlio  would  uot  submit  to  its  discipline 
the  refractory;  ^j^      church    inflicted    puuishmeuts.      There   were 

excommunica-  ^ 

tion  lesser  penalties,  such  as  suspension  from  church 
privileges  and  fines.  For  great  offenses  the  pen- 
alty was  excommunication.  This  was  expulsion 
from  the  church,  with  deprivation  of  its  ministries. 
For  the  medieval  man  this  was  a  dreadful  fate. 
The  faithful  children  of  the  church  were  forbid- 
den to  hold  intercourse  of  any  sort  with  an  ex- 
communicated person,  and  since  practically  every- 
one was  in  the  church,  he  was  avoided  by  nearly 
all  men.  In  some  countries  he  lost  his  legal  rights 
and  was  deemed  an  outlaw.  Thus  the  excommuni- 
cate was  virtually  cast  out  of  human  society.  And 
since  to  lack  the  sacraments  of  the  church  and 
to  die  outside  its  communion  meant  loss  of  salva- 
tion, he  was  regarded  as  doomed  to  eternal  pun- 
ishment. The  fear  of  excommunication  gave 
power  to  the  church  in  all  its  dealings  witJi  men. 
Even  great  kings  quailed  before  this  terrible 
weapon. 


HEIGHT  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES         131 

The  church's  control  over  human  life  was  exer-  church  law 
cised  not  only  by  its  discipline,  but  also  by  its  and  courts 
law,  administered  by  its  own  courts.^  In  the 
Middle  Ages  all  men  were  under  both  civil  law, 
that  of  the  countries  where  they  lived,  and  church 
or  canon  law.  We  have  called  the  church  a  great 
international  government.  Like  all  governments, 
it  had  its  law,  which  consisted  of  the  decisions  of 
councils  and  Popes.  It  had  its  own  courts,  those 
of  bishops  and  archbishops  and  the  Pope.  Cer- 
tain kinds  of  cases,  such  as  those  involving  wills, 
always  went  to  the  church  courts.  Cases  involv- 
ing the  clergy  also  went  to  them,  so  that  the  clergy 
were  not  subject  to  the  law  of  the  land  where  they 
lived.  Besides,  cases  of  almost  all  kinds  could  be 
brought  before  tJie  church  courts  on  some  ground 
or  other.  This  w'as  so  much  done  that  they  became 
as  powerful  as  the  civil  courts. 

A  very  important  part  of  the  legal  machinery  The  inquisition 
of  the  church,  and  one  of  its  chief  means  of  con- 
trol over  life,  was  the  Inquisition.  This  was  the 
church's  organization  for  running  dow^n  and  pun- 
ishing heresy,  or  dissent  from  its  teachings.  In 
the  eleventh,  and  still  more  in  the  twelfth  and  thir- 
teenth centuries,  dissent  became  widespread.  The 
twelfth  century  saw  two  strong,  organized  bodies 
of  dissenters,  the  Cathari  and  the  Waldenses.^  A 
few  men  like  Bernard  and  Dominic  thought  that 
heresy  should  be  dealt  with  by  teaching  and  per- 


^  Properly    speaking,    the    system    of    penance    was    part    of    the 
jfreat   structure   of   church  law. 

*  On  medieval  dissenters,  see  Vol.  II,  pp.  5-8. 


132    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

suasion,  not  by  force.  But  in  general  the  church 
thought  of  no  policy  but  repression.  Heresy  was 
rebellion,  and  must  be  crushed. 

First  the  war  against  it  was  intrusted  to  the 
bishops ;  but  dissent  kept  on  growing.  Then  came 
Innocent  III,  who  hated  this  rebellion  against  the 
church  with  all  his  heart.  His  spirit  was  shown 
by  his  instigation  of  the  bloodthirsty  crusade 
against  the  Albigenses,  heretics  of  Provence,  which 
lasted  more  than  twenty  years  and  caused  the  death 
of  thousands.  Innocent  felt  that  there  was  need 
for  a  centralized  organization,  covering  the  whole 
church,  devoted  to  the  suppression  of  heresy. 
Under  him  and  his  successors,  in  the  first  half  of 
the  thirteenth  century,  there  was  developed  the 
papal  Inquisition.  About  the  same  time  the  civil 
power  supplied  conditions  favorable  to  its  work, 
for  several  governments  made  severe  laws  against 
heresy.  In  1224  the  emperor  Frederick  II  made 
it  punishable  by  death.  The  Inquisition  was  a 
combination  of  a  police  force  and  a  judicial  sys- 
tem. It  worked  everywhere,  vigilantly,  secretly, 
patiently,  remorselessly.  It  allowed  the  accused  in 
its  tribunals  no  means  of  defense  against  charges, 
and  it  almost  never  gave  acquittal.  It  regularly 
used  horrible  tortures  to  extort  confessions.  It 
had  the  help  of  the  civil  power  in  hunting  heretics 
and  inflicting  death  sentences. 
Medieval  In  this  policy  of  crushing  heresy  the  church 
'^^'hfresy*"^*  had  the  support  of  general  opinion.  To  the  medi- 
eval man  heresy  was  the  worst  of  crimes.  For 
it  was  breaking  the  unity  of  the  church,  and  he 


HEIGHT  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES         133 

regarded  an  attack  on  the  church  as  an  attack 
upon  the  Christian  faith.  In  his  mind  the  faith 
and  the  organization  which  embodied  it  were  one 
and  the  same,  so  that  rebellion  against  one  was 
rebellion  against  the  other.  Moreover,  since  Chris- 
tianity was  considered  the  foundation  of  civilized 
society,  the  medieval  man  regarded  heretics,  who 
disobeyed  the  Christian  Church,  just  as  most  men 
nowadays  regard  anarchists.  The  men  of  the  Mid- 
dle Ages  had  no  idea  of  freedom  of  thought  and 
conscience.  This  idea  Christians  were  very  slow 
to  learn,  and  have  not  even  yet  altogether  learned. 

6.  The  Worship  of  the  Church 

In  the  worship  which  the  medieval  church  pro-  xhe 
vided  for  its  people,  by  far  the  largest  element  sacramental 
was  the  administration  of  the  sacraments,  espe- 
cially of  the  mass.  The  sacraments  were  seven : 
baptism,  confirmation,  penance,  the  communion  or 
mass,  marriage,  ordination  and  extreme  unction. 
These  were  thought  to  be  in  themselves  means  of 
salvation.  They  were  not  merely  symbols  teaching 
religious  truths,  or  ordinances  giving  help  to  those 
who  had  Christian  faith;  the  mere  acts  had  a 
magical  saving  power.  They  did  their  saving  work 
independently  of  the  spiritual  condition,  the  faith 
or  lack  of  faith,  of  those  who  received  them.  To  re- 
ceive baptism  was  to  be  regenerated;  to  partake 
of  the  communion  was  to  receive  the  life  of  Christ. 
But  the  sacraments  were  means  of  salvation  only 
when  given  by  a  duly  ordained  priest  of  the 
church. 

10 


134    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


The  mass  The  Central  feature  of  worship  was  the  greatest 
of  the  sacraments,  the  mass.  This  was  celebrated, 
in  the  case  of  high  mass,  with  much  splendor.  By 
imposing  ceremonies,  striking  vestments,  and  sol- 
emn music,  seen  and  heard  in  great,  beautiful 
churches,  a  powerful  impression  was  made  on  the 
spirit  through  the  senses.  In  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, after  it  had  long  been  believed  that  the  bread 
and  wine  of  the  sacrament  were  miraculously 
changed  into  the  actual  flesh  and  blood  of  Christ, 
the  church  formally  adopted  this  belief  as  one  of 
its  doctrines.  This  is  the  doctrine  of  transubstan- 
tiation.  So  the  sacrament  was  an  actual  repetition 
of  the  sacrifice  of  Calvary.  Every  time  it  w^as 
celebrated,  Christ's  body  was  broken  and  his  blood 
was  shed  for  the  sins  of  men.  To  receive  the  sac- 
rament was  to  share  in  the  benefits  of  this  sacri- 
fice, and  to  take  into  one 's  body  the  flesh  and  blood 
of  Christ,  bringing  eternal  life.^ 

Preaching  Because  the  sacraments  were  so  highly  regarded, 
preaching  was  thought  of  much  less  importance. 
Little  of  it  was  done  by  parish  priests,  and  in  fact 
most  of  them  were  too  ignorant  to  preach.  When 
the  Franciscan  and  Dominican  friars  came,  they 
devoted  themselves  largely  to  this  neglected  work 
of  the  priesthood. 

Worship  was  conducted  strictly  according  to  the 
church's  prescribed  orders  and  forms  of  words. 
The  ritual  everywhere  was  in  Latin,   and  there- 


^  To  the  laity  the  bread  only  was  given,  for  fear  of  spilling  the 
wine.  It  was  held  that  since  the  blood  was  contained  in  the  flesh, 
the  bread  alone  was  sufficient. 


HEIGHT  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES         135 

fore  very  few  of  the  people  understood  what  they 
heard  in  church. 

In  earlier  chapters  we  saw  elements  of  pagan  Saim  worship 
superstition  taking  large  place  in  Christian  wor- 
ship. These  remained  and  even  increased  during 
all  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Saint  worship,  in  all  the 
forms  described  in  Chapter  VI/  made  a  large 
part  of  popular  religion.  Patron  saints  without 
number  were  constantly  invoked  for  special  mer- 
cies. Adoration  of  relics  and  belief  in  their  mi- 
raculous powers  flourished,  encouraged  by  the 
church.  Countless  stories  about  the  wonders 
wrought  by  them  were  unquestioningly  received; 
for  example,  a  merchant  of  Groningen  stole  the 
arm  of  John  the  Baptist  from  its  place  and  kept 
it  in  his  house,  and  when  a  great  fire  destroyed  the 
town  only  this  house  escaped.  Pilgrimages  to 
saints'  shrines  were  a  conspicuous  feature  of  medi- 
eval life.  Thousands  went  on  them,  to  work  out 
penances,  to  earn  indulgences,  or  to  get  healing 
of  sickness.  At  the  famous  shrines,  such  as  that 
of  Thomas  Becket  at  Canterbury,  great  wealth 
piled  up  through  the  offerings  of  the  pilgrims, 
which  was  spent  in  costly  decorations  of  precious 
metals  and  jewels. 

The  worship  of  the  Virgin  made  another  large  Marioiatry 
part  of  popular  religion.  In  the  teaching  of  the 
church  there  was  never  any  tendency  to  ascribe 
divinity  to  the  mother  of  our  Lord;  but  she  re- 
ceived a  great  share  of  the  worship  of  the  people, 
^hey  thought  of  her,  the  woman  and  the  mother, 

1  See  p.  90. 


buildings 


136    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

as  being  compassionate  and  gracious.  Such  ele- 
ments of  character  were  not  much  to  be  found 
in  God  and  the  Son  of  God,  as  the  church  pre- 
sented them.  God  was  put  before  the  people 
chiefly  as  creator  and  ruler;  Jesus  chiefly  as 
judge.  So  they  felt  that  they  were  surest  of  ob- 
taining sympathy  and  help  when  their  prayers 
were  addressed  to  the  Virgin.  They  sought  her 
intercession  for  their  needs,  made  her  the  pro- 
tectress of  many  of  their  undertakings,  built  costly 
shrines  and  churches  in  her  honor,  and  magnified 
her  festivals. 
Church  In  any  account  of  medieval  religion  something 

must  be  said  about  the  great  church  buildings  of 
the  period.  The  cathedrals  and  abbey  churches 
which  modem  travelers  go  far  to  see,  and  many 
of  the  parish  churches  as  well,  form  a  most  sig- 
nificant expression  of  medieval  religious  feeling. 
By  their  number  and  size  and  beauty  and  costli- 
ness they  show  how  large  a  part  in  life  was  played 
by  religion,  and  the  church  representing  it.  The 
chief  buildings  of  the  Middle  Ages  were  not  for 
governmental  or  business,  but  religious  purposes. 
The  churches  are  important,  also,  as  being  the 
greatest  works  of  medieval  art.  Since  architecture 
was  the  principal  art  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  since 
religion  was  so  dominant  a  concern  of  men,  natu- 
rally their  artistic  powers  were  largely  employed 
in  building  churches. 

The  religious  revival  of  the  eleventh  century 
showed  itself  in  much  church-building.  "The 
earth  awoke  from  its  slumbers  and  put  on  a  white 


HEIGHT  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES         137 

robe  of  churches."  During  the  next  four  cen- 
turies this  continued,  until  throughout  western 
Europe  there  were  hundreds  of  the  grandest  build- 
ings ever  erected  for  religious  purposes.  In  this 
work  kings,  nobles,  cities,  bishops,  monks  and  the 
people  all  shared.  The  people  often  showed  the 
greatest  generosity  and  devotion.  In  the  eleventh 
century  and  much  of  the  twelfth  the  prevailing 
style  of  architecture  was  the  Norman,  marked  by 
the  round  arch,  of  which  Durham  Cathedral  is  a 
famous  example.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  twelfth 
century  there  came  in  the  Gothic  style,  the  mark 
of  which  is  the  pointed  arch.  This  very  soon 
became  universal  in  western  Europe,  and  it  is 
the  characteristic  medieval  style.  No  other  form 
of  architecture  is  so  congenial  to  worship.  It  is 
impossible  to  enter  a  great  Gothic  church  without 
being  moved  to  reverence  and  serious  thought,  and 
without  feeling  that  it  is  a  monument  of  a  time 
when  religion  had  tremendous  power  over  men. 

7,  The  Church's  Place  in  Religion 

From  what  has  been  said  in  this   chapter,  it  The  church  a 
must  now  be  clear  that  in  the  religion  of  the  peo-  beuv^e'ln^God 
pie  of  the  Middle  Ages  the  church  was  all  im-      and  men 
portant.    Men  were  taught,  and  believed,  that  the 
church  stood  between  God  and  them  as  a  mediator. 
It  brought  to  men  the  saving  grace  of  God  in  its 
sacraments.     It  spoke  to  them  the  commands  of 
God  through  its   discipline.     It   gave  them  true 
knowledge     concerning     God     in     its     teachings. 
Through    its    machinery    of    intercessors    it    pre- 


138    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

sented  to  God  meu's  needs.  All  who  fulfilled  its 
requirements  it  undertook  to  set  right  with  God 
and  to  lead  to  salvation.  By  the  ministries  of  the 
church  God  and  men  were  brought  together.  Only 
thus  did  God's  gift  of  eternal  life  come  to  men. 
Powers  of  the  The  church  held  this  place  by  virtue  of  the 
priesthood  (^yj^giy  given  authority  which  was  believed  to 
belong  to  its  priesthood.  When  Protestants  speak 
of  the  Church,  they  mean  the  community  of  Chris- 
tian people.  To  them  laymen  are  members  of  the 
Church  just  as  much  as  clergymen  are.  Clergy- 
men have  a  special  kind  of  service  to  give  in  the 
Church,  but  no  special  spiritual  privileges  or 
powers.  All  members  of  the  Church,  clergy  and 
laity  alike,  stand  before  God  on  exactly  the  same 
footing.  But  when  medieval  men  spoke  of  the 
Church,  they  meant  primarily  the  priesthood.  The 
priests  had  mysterious  and  awful  powers,  re- 
ceived from  Christ  through  ordination,  by  which 
they  could  mediate  between  God  and  men.  God's 
spiritual  gifts  came  to  men  and  men  drew  near 
to  God  through  the  priests,  and  only  through 
them.  In  their  hands  were  the  powers  of  life  and 
death,  of  heaven  and  hell.  To  be  out  of  commun- 
ion with  them  was  to  be  separated  from  God  and 
doomed  to  everlasting  woe. 

For  the  people  of  western  Europe  in  the  Mid- 
dle Ages,  Christianity  was  altogether  bound  up 
with  the  church,  that  is  with  the  great  organiza- 
tion ruled  over  by  the  Pope.  Only  a  compara- 
tively few  dissenters  ^  thought  of  such  a  thing  as 

1  See  Chapter  X. 


HEIGHT  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES         139 

being  a  Christian  apart  from  this  church.  For 
the  mass  of  men,  to  be  a  Christian  was  to  obey  the 
Roman  Church. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  STUDY 

1.  Describe  the  property  and  income  of  the  church. 

2.  How   was  this  wealth   used? 

3.  What  were  the  powers  of  the  Pope? 

4.  Describe  the  office  of  bishop. 

5.  Describe  the  medieval  parish  priest. 

6.  What  was  the  relation  of  the  monks  and  the  Pope? 

7.  What  services  did  the  monks  render  in  this  period? 

8.  What  was  the  moral  condition  of  the  monasteries? 

9.  Explain  these  features  of  the  church's  discipline: 

a.  Penance. 

b.  Indulgences. 

c.  Excommunication. 

10.  Describe  the  law  and  courts  of  the  church. 

11.  What  was  the  Inquisition? 

12.  What    was    the    general    medieval    feeling    regarding 

heresy  ? 

13.  Describe  the  worship  of  the  medieval  church. 

14.  What  were  the  seven  sacraments?  What  idea  was 
held  regarding  their  power? 

15.  What  is  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation  ?  What 
was  the  mass  believed  to  be? 

16.  Describe  saint  worship  in  this  period. 

17.  What  was  the  reason  for  the  worship  of  the  Virgin? 

18.  What  place  did  the  church  hold  in  the  religion  of  the 
people?     What  gave  it  this  place? 

EEADING 

Workman:  ''The  Church  of  the  West  in  the  Middle 
Ages/'  Vol.  II,  ch.  IV,  on  church  law  and  the  Inquisition; 
Vol.  I,  ch.  VII,  on  monasticism. 

Schaff:  '^ History  of  the  Christian  Church,"  Vol.  V, 
Part  I,  ch.  XV,  on  the  organization  and  law  of  the  church 


140    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

and  the  clergy;  eh.  X,  on  the  Inquisition;  ch.  XIV,  on  the 
sacraments  and  on  penance  and  indulgences;  ch.  XVI,  on 
saint  worship  and  Mariolatry. 

Medley :  * '  The  Church  and  the  Empire, ' '  ch.  IV,  on  the 
clergy  and  the  wealth  of  the  church;  ch.  V,  on  monasticism; 
ch.  X,  on  the  papal  power;    ch.  XI,  on  discipline. 

Coulton:  ''From  St.  Francis  to  Dante,"  ch.  XXIII,  on 
the  priests. 

Cutts:  "Parish  Priests  and  Their  People  in  the  Middle 
Ages  in  England,"  on  the  same  subject. 

Workman:    ''The  Evolution  of  the  Monastic  Ideal,"  ch.  V. 

Lindsay :  ' '  History  of  the  Eef  ormation, ' '  Vol.  I,  Book  II, 
ch.  II,  on  penance  and  indulgences. 

Lea:  "The  Inquisition  of  the  Middle  Ages,"  especially 
Vol.  I,  chs.  VII-XIV. 

Milman:  "Latin  Christianity,"  Book  XIV,  ch.  I,  on  the 
clergy. 


CHAPTER  IX 


THE  CHURCH  AT  THE  HEIGHT  OF  THE 
MIDDLE  AGES   (Continued) 

(A.  D.  1073-1294) 

I.  THE  WESTERN  CHURCH    (Continued) 

B.    THE    CHURCH    RULING    THE   WESTERN    WORLD 
(Continued) 

8.  Christian  Life  under   the  ChurcWs  Rule 

We  now  want  to  see  what  sort  of  character  and 
conduct  were  produced  by  the  great  religious  sys- 
tem at  which  we  have  been  looking.  Here  two 
different  things  are  to  be  noted.  One  is  the  Chris- 
tianity of  some  wonderful  men  and  women  whom 
the  whole  Christian  Church  to-day  honors.  An- 
other is  the  Christianity  of  the  common  people. 

As  examples  of  medieval  Christianity  at  its  best 
let  us  take  Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  Dominic,  and 
Francis  of  Assisi.  Bernard  (1090-1153)  came  of 
a  noble  family  of  Burgundy.  His  father  was  one 
of  the  men  in  whom  the  spirit  of  chivalry  found 
its  best  expression — a  brave  man  and  a  friend  of 
the  poor  and  helpless — and  his  mother  was  a 
saintly  character.  In  their  home,  an  abode  of 
faith  and  goodness,  all  their  children  grew  up 
devoted  to  God.  Bernard  was  too  weak  in  body 
for  a  knight's  life,  and  even  in  his  family  he  was 
of  unusual  religious  earnestness.  It  was  natural, 
in  his  time,  that  he  should  become  a  monk.     This 

141 


Christianity 
of  religious 

leaders ; 
(1)  Bernard 


142    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

he  did  when  he  was  twenty-two.  Even  so  early- 
he  showed  some  of  the  qualities  that  were  to  make 
his  life  memorable.  He  took  with  him  into  the 
monastery  all  his  brothers  and  thirty  other  men; 
for  the  power  of  his  nature  and  of  his  enthusiasm 
for  the  monk's  life  was  irresistible.  He  proved 
the  genuineness  of  his  consecration  by  entering, 
not  one  of  the  monasteries  of  comfortable  life,  but 
that  of  Citeaux,  where  the  rule  was  the  most  strict 
and  the  monks  endured  the  severest  self-denials 
— "only  one  meal  a  day,  never  meat  or  fish  or 
eggs,  short  spells  of  sleep,  midnight  devotions, 
and  hard  toil  in  the  fields. ' '  But  even  this  way  of 
life  did  not  require  self-sacrifice  enough  for  Ber- 
nard's enthusiasm.  He  put  on  himself  further 
austerities  which  permanently  impaired  his  health. 
Bernard  Two  ycars  later  he  was  sent  out  at  the  head  of 

Qa^aiK  ^  little  colony  of  monks  to  found  another  mon- 
astery. In  a  desolate,  forbidding  valley  of  east- 
ern France  they  built  a  sort  of  rude  barn,  out  of 
which  was  to  grow  the  famous  abbey  of  Clair- 
vaux.  Attracted  by  Bernard's  presence,  many 
men  came  to  be  monks  of  Clairvaux,  of  whom  not 
a  few  were  of  high  station.  His  abbey  pros- 
pered greatly  in  every  way.  Many  who  did 
not  become  monks  resorted  to  Clairvaux  for  short 
His  influence  stays,  for  the  Sake  of  being  near  Bernard.  Over 
over  his  monks  j-^-g  j^Qj^j^g  ^jr^^  qH  thosc  with  whom  he  Came  in  con- 
tact he  exercised  a  marvelous  influence,  through 
personal  relations  and  through  his  daily  preach- 
ing in  the  abbey  church.  The  secret  of  it  can  be 
briefly  told  by  saying  that  he  had  a  great  love  for 


HEIGHT  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES         143 

men,  and  a  great  love  for  God.  He  had  ''intense 
sympathy  with  human  need,"  as  we  can  read  in 
his  letters,  many  of  which  have  been  preserved. 
And  he  had  ardent  devotion  to  God  and  to  Christ 
in  whom  he  saw  the  love  of  God.  This  spirit  we 
can  feel  in  some  of  his  hymns  which  we  sing,  "0 
sacred  head,  now  wounded"  and  "Jesus,  the  very 
thought  of  thee." 

Bernard's  influence  went  out  far  beyond  Clair-  His  influence 
vaux.  His  great  services  to  monasticism  we  saw  '"  Europe 
in  our  last  chapter.  But  his  power  was  not  con- 
fined by  monastery  walls.  It  is  literally  true  that 
in  the  first  half  of  the  twelfth  century  this  semi- 
invalid  monk,  never  holding  any  office  but  that  of 
abbot  of  Clairvaux,  without  wealth  or  armed  force, 
was  the  most  influential  man  of  Europe.  This  was 
due  solely  to  the  saintliness  and  the  force  of  his 
character.  His  advice  was  asked  by  all  kinds  of 
people,  the  highest  and  the  humblest,  about  all 
kinds  of  matters,  great  and  small ;  and  his  counsel 
almost  always  prevailed.  In  bold,  outspoken  let- 
ters he  reproved  the  Popes  and  the  king  of  France 
for  neglect  of  the  duties  of  their  stations.  When 
Europe  was  in  confusion  because  of  a  dispute  as 
to  which  of  two  men  was  rightful  Pope,  his  de- 
cision was  sought  by  the  king  and  prelates  of 
France,  and  was  accepted  everywhere.  When 
Pope  Eugenius  lY  proclaimed  the  second  Cru- 
sade, he  threw  upon  Bernard  the  task  of  rousing 
men  to  undertake  it.  In  France  and  in  Germany 
his  preaching  stirred  unbounded  enthusiasm  for 
the  holy  war.     The  emperor  had  decided  to  stay 


144    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

at  home,  but  when  he  heard  Bernard  preach  he, 
too,  took  the  cross.  So  he  was  the  spiritual  ruler 
of  Christendom;  and  yet  all  his  life  he  remained 
humble  and  unselfish. 

Not  long  after  Bernard's  death  was  born  the 

(2)  Dominic  great  Spaniard  who  is  called  Dominic  (1170-1221). 
He  had  a  long  university  training,  and  then  be- 
came a  priest;  but  his  real  life  work  was  rather 
slow  in  coming  to  him.  When  he  was  past  thirty 
he  traveled  through  southeastern  France,  and 
there  saw  the  effect  of  the  so-called  Albigensian 
heresy,^  a  medley  of  truth  and  error,  which  had 
caused  a  widespread  desertion  of  the  church.  He 
saw  also  the  beginning  of  the  terrible  war  by 
which  the  Popes  stamped  out  the  heresy.  It  all 
gave  to  him  the  idea  that  what  the  times  needed 
was  the  preaching  of  Christian  truth.  Thus,  he 
saw,  heresy  ought  to  be  put  down.    At  length  he 

His  plan  for  conceived   the    plan    of    forming    a    company    of 

his  order     trained  preachers,  who  should  travel  about  and 

teach  the  people.     When  he  was  forty-five  he  got 

from  Innocent  III  approval  of  his  plan,  and  at 

once  began  to  form  his  order.  His  project  met  with 

enthusiastic  response  from  the  young  men  of  his 

time,  showing  that  he  had  seen  what  the  age  needed. 

Growth  of         The  order  grew  by  leaps  and  bounds.     Within 

the  order     £^^^  years   from   the   beginning   of   active   work, 

about   twenty   houses    of   the   Dominican   friars  ^ 

were  established  in  several  European  countries,  and 

the  work  of  the  friars  spread  widely.     Burning 


iSee  pp.   119,   132. 

*  "Friar"  is  derived  from  the  Latin  frater,  brother. 


HEIGHT  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES  145 

with  zeal,  Dominic  traveled  extensively,  preaching 
and  getting  recruits.  Since  his  plan  called  for 
trained  preachers,  he  tried  particularly  to  interest 
university  students,  and  he  won  many  for  his 
order.  He  desired  to  go  as  a  missionary  to  the 
heathen  Tartars  of  southern  Russia.  But  worn 
out  by  excessive  toil,  he  died  only  four  years  after 
he  sent  out  the  first  of  his  friars,  leaving  his 
order  numerous,  widespread  and  solidly  organized. 
Dominic  had  not  the  wonderful  magnetism  of  his 
contemporary,  Francis  of  Assisi;  but  by  his  wis- 
dom, force,  enthusiasm  and  genius  for  organiza- 
tion he  created  one  of  the  great  religious  powers 
of  the  Middle  Ages. 

Of  the  religious  leaders  of  the  Middle  Ages,  o)  Francis  of 
Francis  of  Assisi  is  to-day  the  most  honored  and  ^****' 
loved  by  the  whole  Christian  Church.  Christians 
of  all  names  feel  themselves  inspired  by  the  life 
of  this  man  who  so  faithfully  followed  Jesus. 
Francis  (1182-1226)  was  the  son  of  a  well-to-do 
merchant  of  Assisi,  in  central  Italy.  In  the  midst 
of  a  careless  and  dissipated  youth  a  severe  illness 
sobered  him  and  turned  his  thoughts  to  God.  His 
religious  awakening  at  once  showed  itself  in  lov- 
ing service  of  his  fellow  men.  Extravagant  be- 
fore for  his  own  pleasure,  he  now  was  extrava- 
gantly generous  in  his  gifts  to  the  poor.  He  de- 
voted himself  especially  to  the  most  neglected  and 
miserable  people  of  the  Middle  Ages,  the  lepers, 
giving  them  personal  care  and  friendship.  He 
also  restored  some  ruined  chapels,  seeking  thus 
to  express  his  desire  to  serve  God.     He  had  not 


146    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

yet  found  the  work  that  God  had  for  him.  His 
father,  angered  by  his  prodigal  gifts,  tried  to  re- 
strain him  as  a  madman.  Therefore  Francis  re- 
nounced his  claim  to  his  father's  property,  and 
went  out  into  the  world  a  poor  man. 
Hiscauto  Soon  after,  ai  mass  in  a  chapel  near  Assisi  he 
service  heard  the  priest  read  that  portion  of  the  tenth 
chapter  of  Matthew  which  describes  Jesus'  send- 
ing forth  his  disciples  to  preach.  This  came  to 
him  as  a  direct  call  of  Jesus,  and  he  straightway 
obeyed.  Though  a  layman,  he  went  into  the  town 
and  preached.  Then,  and  all  his  life,  he  preached 
with  great  effect,  teaching  the  simplest,  most  prac- 
tical Christianity  with  a  power  given  by  his  devo- 
tion to  Jesus  and  his  own  winning  personality. 
Formation  of  Very  soou  two  men  of  Assisi  became  his  com- 
brotherhood  P^nions.  This  led  him  to  think  of  a  brotherhood 
of  men  who  should  live  as  he  was  living,  in  serv- 
ice to  their  fellow  men  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  and 
in  poverty.  A  few  other  disciples  came,  and  the 
brotherhood  was  formed.  In  this  first  year  (1209 
or  1210)  Francis  and  his  followers  carried  on  a 
preaching  mission  in  the  country  regions  of  Um- 
bria.  The  company  kept  increasing,  most  of  its 
members  being  young  men  from  Assisi  and  its 
neighborhood.  Unlike  the  Dominicans,  these  early 
Franciscans  were  largely  without  education.  After 
this  first  service  of  the  brotherhood,  Francis  went 
to  Rome  with  some  of  his  followers,  and  obtained 
from  Innocent  III  a  partial  approval  of  his  pur- 
pose for  their  life. 

The  use  of  the  chapel  where  Francis  had  heard 


HEIGHT  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES         147 

his  call  to  service  was  given  to  him,  and  he  made  The  work  of 
it  the  headquarters  of  the  brotherhood.  Rude  shel-  *^^  Franciscans 
ters  were  built  around  it  for  the  brothers.  But  they 
were  seldom  there,  for  their  time  was  spent  in  serv- 
ing the  people  in  accordance  with  the  commands 
and  example  of  Jesus.  They  preached  in  the  fields 
when  the  workers  were  resting,  and  in  the  market 
places  of  towns,  and  wherever  they  could  get  op- 
portunity. They  ministered  to  need  of  all  kinds 
as  they  could,  especially  to  lepers.  Money  to  give 
they  had  none,  for  poverty  was  an  essential  part 
of  their  life,  but  they  gave  personal  service  and 
care.  Their  mission  was  not,  like  that  of  the 
Dominicans,  one  of  preaching  only,  but  one  of 
general  ministry  to  all  the  needs  of  men,  of  which 
the  preaching  of  the  gospel  formed  a  part.  They 
supported  themselves  by  working  when  they  could. 
When  this  failed  they  resorted  to  begging.  Hence 
both  they  and  the  Dominicans,  who  early  adopted 
the  Franciscan  policy  of  poverty,  were  sometimes 
called  the  Mendicant  (begging)  Orders. 

A  striking  characteristic  of  these  first  Francis- 
cans was  their  joyfulness,  which  was  inspired  in 
them  by  Francis.  To  him  and  to  those  of  his  fol- 
lowers who  received  his  spirit,  a  life  of  service  to 
men  and  of  poverty  for  Jesus'  sake  was  no  bur- 
den or  sacrifice,  but  a  great  happiness.  The  early 
Franciscan  movement  was  permeated  by  the  spirit 
of  Francis — his  devotion  and  obedience  to  Jesus, 
his  love  for  men,  his  unworldliness,  his  joy.  Never 
has  there  been  an  endeavor  to  follow  Jesus  that 
showed  more  faith  in  him  and  more  readiness  to 


148    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

do  liis  bidding  than  that  made  by  Francis  and  these 

first  Franciscans. 
Growth  of  the      The  brotherhood  grew  very  rapidly,  in  Italy  and 
Franciscans;  i^gyond.    When  the  second  annual  general  chapter 

missions  ^  ^  ^ 

was  held,  in  1217,  there  were  Franciscan  friars  in 
Germany,  Hungary  and  Spain,  and  missions  to 
non-Christian  lands  had  been  begun.  To  Cardinal 
Ugolini,  finding  fault  with  him  for  sending  his 
brethren  to  distant  and  dangerous  places,  Francis 
replied:  ''Do  you  think  that  God  has  raised  up 
the  brothers  for  the  sake  of  this  country  alone? 
Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  God  has  raised  them  up 
for  the  awakening  and  salvation  of  all  men."  In 
1218  he  went  himself  to  Palestine,  thinking,  in  the 
simplicity  of  his  faith,  to  convert  the  Moslems  by 
preaching.  He  went  boldly  into  the  Moslem  army 
at  Damietta,  in  Egypt,  and  preached,  but  with  no 
success.  Among  the  armies  of  the  crusaders,  how- 
ever, he  won  a  number  of  recruits. 
Last  years  of  Eeturning  to  Italy  after  two  years,  Francis 
found  that  those  whom  he  had  left  in  charge  of 
the  brotherhood  had  somewhat  departed  from  his 
ideals.  He  intended  not  only  that  the  individual 
brothers  should  have  no  property  of  their  own, 
but  also  that  the  brotherhood  should  have  none. 
Poverty  seemed  to  him  to  mean  liberty  from 
worldly  cares  interfering  with  Christian  disciple- 
ship.  But  in  his  absence  his  rule  was  modi- 
fied, so  that  the  brotherhood  could  hold  prop- 
erty. He  was  deeply  troubled  by  this,  and  by  some 
other  changes  which  he  found.  It  is  possible  that 
he  became  convinced  that  his  ideal  of  poverty  was 


HEIGHT  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES         149 

impracticable  for  a  body  of  men  carrying  on  work 
in  many  countries,  as  the  brotherhood  now  was. 
Perhaps  he  saw  also  that  he  was  incapable  of 
managing  a  great,  widespread  organization.  Cer- 
tainly his  gifts  were  not  those  of  administration. 
At  any  rate,  he  asked  the  Pope  to  take  the  brother- 
hood under  his  protection,  which  resulted  in  its 
being  made  an  order,  on  the  same  plane  as  the 
monastic  orders,  and  he  resigned  his  place  as  its 
head.  During  his  few  remaining  years  he  felt 
much  sorrow  over  tendencies  in  the  order  away 
from  his  desires  for  it.  But  before  his  death  his 
old  joyfulness  returned  and  uttered  itself  in  the 
famous  ''Canticle  of  the  Sun." 

In  spite  of  some  variations  from  the  ideals  of  Later  work  of 
Francis,    the    Franciscans    for   many    years    kept      ^'"'nd^^"* 
much  of  his  spirit.    Wherever  there  were  neglected    Franciscans 
and  wretched  people,  the  Franciscans  set  up  their 
houses  and  labored.    The  Dominicans  were  worthy 
rivals  to  them  in  single-minded  devotion  to  their 
work.     The  friars  of  both  orders  preached  widely 
and  served  their  fellow  men  in  many  other  ways. 
Both  orders  carried  their  missions  to  the  limits 
of  the  known  world,  with  heroic  fidelity.    A  noble 
Franciscan,    John    de    Monte    Corvino,    reached 
Peking  before  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
and  worked   there   eleven  years   alone,   until  an- 
other joined  him.     He  gained  large  results  in  a 
service  which  lasted  thirty-six  years.    Many  of  the 
leaders  of  the  medieval  church  came  from  these 
two  orders,  in  particular  almost  all  of  its  greatest 
theologians. 
11 


150    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


Difference 

between 

religious 

leaders  and 

the  people 


Popular 

Christianity 

a  religion  of 

fear 


and  of 
superstition 


There  is  a  strange  distance  between  what  the 
medieval  church  produced  in  a  comparatively  few 
great  characters,  such  as  Bernard,  Dominic,  Fran- 
cis, Anselm,  Louis  IX  of  France,  and  Catherine 
of  Siena,  and  the  religious  life  of  the  great  mass 
under  its  rule.  The  distance  is  certainly  far 
greater  than  that  betw^een  the  highest  characters 
and  the  great  mass  in  modem  European  and 
American  Protestantism. 

The  Christianity  of  almost  all  people  in  the  Mid- 
dle Ages  was  essentially  a  religion  of  fear.  The 
church  held  its  children  in  control  by  keeping 
alive  in  them  dread  of  its  power  over  life  here 
and  hereafter.  The  God  of  whom  it  taught  was 
a  God  of  judgment,  whose  anger  against  sin  could 
be  averted  only  by  conformity  to  the  commands 
of  the  church  to  which  he  had  given  authority. 
What  made  most  people  take  part  in  religious  ob- 
servances and  obey  the  moral  precepts  of  religion 
was  not  love  and  trust  toward  God,  but  terror  at 
the  thought  of  the  consequences  of  doing  other- 
wise. 

Popular  Christianity  also  consisted  largely  of 
superstitious  beliefs  and  practices.  There  was 
much  of  this  nature  in  the  worship  of  tlie  church 
and  in  its  system  of  sacramental  magic.  The 
common  people,  because  of  ignorance  and  surviv- 
ing heathen  habits  of  mind,  took  up  with  the  super- 
stitious part  of  the  form  of  Christianity  which 
was  put  before  them,  rather  than  with  its  more 
spiritual  part.  It  was  mostly  in  the  former  that 
they  found  their  religion.     Much  can  be  learned 


HEIGHT  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES         151 

about  the  religion  of  the  people  in  the  Middle  Ages 
from  the  Dialog  us  Miraculoriim,  a  book  written  by 
Caesar  of  Heisterbach  in  Germany  while  Francis 
was  preaching  in  Italy.  It  is  a  collection  of  won- 
derful stories,  which  the  author  and  tlie  people 
among  whom  he  lived  accepted  as  absolutely  true. 
The  book  shows  that  in  popular  belief  there  was 
much  that  was  not  above  the  level  of  gross  heathen- 
ism. For  example,  a  hawk  seized  a  parrot  and 
flew  away  with  it.  But  the  parrot  cried  out,  ' '  Holy 
Thomas  of  Canterbury,  save  me";  whereupon  the 
hawk  fell  dead  to  the  ground.  Again,  when  a  cer- 
tain woman's  bees  became  diseased,  she  put  into 
the  hive  a  wafer  of  the  bread  of  the  communion. 
The  bees,  perceiving  the  body  of  Christ,  built 
round  it  a  little  chapel,  with  tower,  door,  windows 
and  altar.  ^ 

Thus  the  religion  of  the  mass  of  the  people  was 
a  much  debased  Christianity.  In  these  times  the 
common  people  were  grossly  ignorant  and  very 
poor.  They  lived  in  filth  and  general  wretched- 
ness rarely  seen  nowadays.  Since  they  had  to  up- 
lift them  only  this  corrupt  kind  of  religion,  it  is 
no  wonder  that  there  was  great  and  widespread 
wickedness.  Evil  and  misery  were  frightfully 
prevalent  among  the  people,  especially  in  the 
great  towns. 

Yet  in  some  places,  particularly  in  Germany, 
there  was  to  be  found  true  evangelical  piety.    This 


1  See  also  the  story  about  the  arm  of  John  the  Baptist,  on  p.  135. 
These  stories  are  taken  from  Workman:  "The  Church  of  the  West 
in  the  Middle  Ages,"  Vol.  II,  pp.  187,   188. 


152    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


Evangelical 
religion 

among  the 
people 


was  taught  through  the  associations  of  family  life 
rather  than  through  the  agencies  of  the  church. 
We  have  evidence  of  its  existence  in  hymns  used 
in  the  homes,  and  in  some  accounts  of  medieval 
home  life.  The  Lutheran  Friedrich  Mecum  said 
of  his  own  childhood,  before  the  Reformation: 
"My  dear  father  had  taught  me  in  my  childliood 
the  Ten  Commandments,  the  Lord's  Prayer  and 
the  Creed,  and  constrained  me  to  pray  always. 
For,  said  he,  *  Everything  comes  to  us  from  God 
alone,  and  that  gratis,  free  of  cost,  and  he  will 
lead  us  and  rule  us,  if  we  only  diligently  pray  to 
him.'  "  After  quoting  this,  the  historian  Lind- 
say adds,  "We  can  trace  this  simple  evangelical 
family  religion  away  back  through  the  Middle 
Ages."^ 


9.  The  Service  of  the  Medieval  Church  to  the  World 

Protestants  are  in  danger  of  failing  to  appre- 
ciate the  good  in  the  medieval  church  and  the 
good  that  it  did.  This  church  was  a  part,  and 
The  church  the  largest  part,  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  Though 
chrisHMi'faith  ^^^^d  with  much  error,  it  kept  through  centuries 
the  faith  of  Christ.  The  reformers  tore  away 
many  of  the  errors,  and  gave  to  Europe  the  faith 
in  a  far  purer  form.  But  the  faith  was  there  to 
be  disencumbered  because  it  had  been  handed 
down  from  generation  to  generation  through  the 
medieval  church.  This  church,  as  we  have  seen, 
produced  some  men  and  women  who  stood  near 


^  Lindsay :    "History  of  the  Reformation,"  Vol.  I,  p.  124. 


HEIGHT  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES         153 

to  Christ ;    a  tree  wholly  corrupt  could  not  bring 
forth  such  fruit. 

Moreover,  in  order  to  judge  aright  this  great  ''^^;'^;^^ 
organization,  we  must  look  at  it  in  the  light  of 
the  world  in  which  it  was  placed.     When  it  was 
forming,  Europe  was  in  the  chaos  caused  by  the 
migrations  of  the  peoples.     The  Roman  Empire, 
which   had   held   the    world   together,    was    gone. 
There  was  danger  that  the  population  of  Europe 
would  break   up    into   warring   barbarian   tribes. 
This  would  have  meant  the  drowning  of  Chris- 
tianity and  civilization  under  a  deluge  of  heathen- 
ism   and   savagery.      The    situation    demanded    a 
powerful  organization  which  should  bind  men  into 
one   and  hold  them  in   some   degree   of   control. 
This  need  the  church  met.    Later,  when  the  power 
of  the  great  nobles  developed,  another  danger  ap- 
peared.   This  was  that  Europe  would  be  separated 
into   many   domains   ruled  by  nobles,   great  and 
small,  always  fighting  with  one  another.     Against 
this  tendency  toward  division  and  hostility,  the 
one  church  including  all  men  was  a  great  power. 
It  kept  in  the  life  of  western  Europe  a  measure  of 
unity,   which   gave   opportunity   for   Christiamty 
and  civilization  to  live  and  grow. 

The  medieval  church  took  hold  of  the  barbarians  "^christ^^^^^^^^^ 
who  flooded  Europe,  instructed  them  m  Christian  ^^^  barbarians 
truth,  and  trained  them  in  Christian  and  civilized 
living.  No  doubt  this  work  was  very  imperfectly 
done?  But  it  was  actually  done,  and  done  well 
enough  to  prove  permanent.  We  cannot  see  m 
those  times  any  means  by  which  the  work  could 


154    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


It  uplifted 
morals 


Its  services 
to  culture 


have  been  done  better.  "With  all  its  faults,  the 
church  achieved  certain  precious  advances  in  gen- 
eral morals,  and  conferred  inestimable  benefits. 
It  abolished  slavery.  It  greatly  elevated  the  posi- 
tion of  women.  It  defended  the  family.  It  miti- 
gated the  horrors  of  war.  Its  charities  relieved 
much  need  and  gave  men  a  living  lesson  in  the 
spirit  of  Jesus.  For  centuries  the  church  pro- 
vided all  the  education  that  Europe  had.  Most 
of  the  scholars  and  thinkers  of  the  Middle  Ages 
belonged  to  its  clergy.  To  the  church  we  owe 
directly  many  of  the  noblest  works  of  medieval 
art. 

In  spite  of  errors  and  corruptions  and  cruelties 
the  medieval  church  was  in  its  time  a  providential 
instrument,  necessary  for  the  preservation  and  ex- 
tension of  Christianity  and  Christian  civilization. 
Wlien  its  time  came  to  an  end,  the  church  was  in 
great  measure  broken  up,  and  other  instruments 
of  God  arose  to  do  the  work  of  his  kingdom. 


II.  THE  EASTEEN  CHUECH 

Just  before  the  beginning  of  this  period  (1054) 
came  the  final  break  between  the  East  and  the 
West.  The  Eastern  or  Greek  Church  then  became 
an  entirely  separate  organization.  Its  chief  ruler 
was  the  patriarch  of  Constantinople,  but  he  never 
had  such  power  as  the  Pope  had  in  the  West. 
Worship  In    worship    and    popular    religion    the    Greek 

Church  had  interesting  likenesses  to  and  differ- 
The  sacraments  ences  from  the  Western  Church.    The  seven  sacra- 
ments were  accepted  in  it.     Baptism  was  admin- 


HEIGHT  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES         155 

istered  by  immersion  in  infancy.  Penance  was  re- 
quired, but  it  never  was  so  systematic  as  in  the 
West,  nor  were  indulgences  given.  The  priests  as 
they  pronounced  absolution  told  penitents  that 
they  could  not  forgive,  but  only  God.  Neverthe- 
less the  idea  of  the  church's  mediation  between 
God  and  man  prevailed,  as  in  the  West. 

The   central   feature   of  worship   was   the   com-         The 
inunion,  as  the  mass  was  in  the  West.     The  com-    <:o™™"n'o*» 

service 

munion  service  was  an  even  more  elaborate  cere- 
mony than  Roman  high  mass.  It  contained  many 
symbolic  actions.  Candles  w^ere  lighted  and  put 
out;  doors  were  opened  and  closed;  the  clergy 
walked  in  procession,  bent  the  knee,  prostrated 
themselves,  kissed  the  altar  and  the  book  of  the 
gospel,  crossed  themselves,  changed  their  vest- 
ments of  varied  colors,  embroidered  and  jeweled. 
The  aim  of  all  was  to  produce  awe  and  faith  by 
an  appeal  to  the  eye. 

There  w^as  not  much  preaching,  as  in  the  West. 
But  Bible-reading  was  encouraged  much  more 
than  there.  The  Bible  was  translated  into  the 
speech  of  several  of  the  peoples  of  the  church. 
Generally  the  ritual  was  in  the  language  of  the 
people.  Yet  the  worship  of  images  of  the  saints  Superstitions 
and  the  adoration  of  relics  were  carried  even  far- 
ther than  in  the  West,  and  popular  religion  was 
even  more  superstitious.  This  was  true  of  the 
Greeks,  and  still  more  of  the  Russians.^ 

The  Greek  Church  allowed  its  priests  to  marry, 
before  ordination,  and  most  of  its  clergy  were  mar- 

^See  p.   74. 


156    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


Missions 


Lack  of 
progress 


Nestorian 
Ciiurcii 


ried.  Bishops,  however,  had  to  be  iinmarried,  so 
that  they  were  usually  chosen  from  among  the 
monks.  Monasteries  were  many  and  crowded,  but 
the  monks  were  not  such  valuable  missionaries  of 
Christianity  and  civilization  as  in  the  West. 

The  Moslem  rule  in  western  Asia  made  it  im- 
possible for  the  Greek  Church  to  spread  Christian- 
ity there.  Some  missionary  work  was  done  in  the 
heathen  parts  of  Russia  in  the  eleventh  and  twelfth 
centuries.  In  the  thirteenth  the  terrible  disaster 
of  the  Mongol  occupation  of  Russia  stopped  the 
spread  of  Christianity  there,  too. 

Thus  the  Eastern  Church  had  great  hindrances 
to  service  in  outward  circumstances.  But  its  great- 
est hindrance  was  its  own  lack  of  the  spirit  of 
progress.  Its  ruling  desire  was  to  remain  what 
it  had  been,  to  avoid  change.  Since  the  eighth 
century  it  has  changed  very  little  in  doctrine  and 
worship.  It  has  changed  in  government  only  be- 
cause of  political  events,  and  then  not  much. 

A  word  should  be  said  here  about  the  Nestorian 
Church.  It  continued  in  this  period  its  widespread 
missions,  and  grew  greatly.  In  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury its  patriarch  had  under  him  seventy  bish- 
oprics, including  multitudes  of  Christians  from 
Edessa  in  Syria  to  Peking,  and  from  Siberia  to 
southern  India.  But  from  this  time  until  the 
fifteenth  century  the  Mongol  invasions  brought  on 
the  Nestorians  fearful  losses,  from  which  they 
have  never  recovered.  Their  church  still  exists 
in  Persia  and  Syria,  in  pitiful  weakness  and  cor- 
ruption. 


HEIGHT  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES         157 

QUESTIONS  FOR  STUDY 

1.  Describe  the  character  and  work  of  Bernard  of  Clair- 
vaux. 

2.  Describe  the  work  of  Dominic. 

3.  Describe  the  religious  experience  of  Francis  of  Assisi. 

4.  Tell  how  Francis  formed  his  brotherhood,  and  describe 
its  ministry. 

5.  Describe  the  later  years  of  Francis. 

6.  Describe  the  growth  of  the  Franciscans  and  Domini- 
cans, and  their  work  after  the  deaths  of  their  founders. 

7.  What  Avas  the  character  of  the  Christianity  of  the 
common  people  in  the  Middle  Ages? 

8.  Explain  these  services  given  by  the  medieval  church: 

a.  The  preservation  of  the  Christian  faith. 

b.  Keeping  Europe  in  unity. 

c.  Christianizing  and  civilizing  the  barbarians. 

d.  Uplifting  general  morals. 

e.  Advancing  intellectual  life. 

9.  Describe    worship    in    the    Eastern    Church. 

10.  What  were  the  differences  between  the  Eastern  and 
Western  churches  as  to 

a.  Bible-reading. 

b.  The  use  of  the  language  of  the  people, 
e.  The  marriage  of  the  clergy. 

d.  The  character  of  the  religion  of  the  people? 

11.  How  does  the  Eastern  Church  show  its  conservatism? 

EEADING 

Workman:  ''The  Church  of  the  West  in  the  Middle 
Ages,"  Vol.  I,  ch.  VIII,  on  Bernard;  Vol.  II,  ch.  VI,  on 
Dominic  and  Francis  and  their  orders;  Vol.  II,  ch.  V,  on 
popular  religion. 

Schaff:  ''History  of  the  Christian  Church,"  Vol.  V,  Part 
I,  ch.  VIII,  on  Bernard  and  on  Dominic  and  Francis  and 
their  orders;  ch.  IX,  on  the  missions  of  these  orders;  ch. 
XVI,  on  popular  religion. 

Storrs:     "Bernard  of  Clairvaux." 


158    GROWTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

Sabatier:     ''St.  Francis  of  Assisi." 

Joergensen:     *'St.  Francis  of  Assisi." 

Jessopp:     *'The  Coming  of  the  Friars." 

Coulton:  ''From  St.  Francis  to  Dante,"  chs.  XXIII- 
XXV,  on  popular  religion;    ch.  XXVI,  on  the  Franciscans. 

Milman:  "Latin  Christianity,"  Book  XIV,  ch.  II,  on 
popular  religion. 

Adeney:  "The  Greek  and  Eastern  Churches,"  Part  I, 
Division  II,  chs.  VII-IX,  especially  ch.  IX,  on  the  Greek 
Church;  Part  II,  Division  III,  chs.  II-IV,  on  the  Greek 
Church  in  Russia;  Part  II,  Division  IV,  chs.  III-V,  on  the 
Nestorians.  a  i  r     / 

10  i'^  n^^ 


INDEX 


Absolution,  129. 

Adrianople,  battle,  29. 

Alaric,  30. 

Albigenses,  119,  132,  144. 

Angles,  29,  69. 

Ansgar,  72-73. 

Antioch,  19,  59,  80. 

Apologists,  33. 

Apostles,  19,  25,  26. 

Apostles '  Creed,  24,  49. 

Apostolic  succession,  60. 

Arabs,  65-66,  115. 

Archbishops,  79,  124. 

Arius,  50. 

Art    and   the   church,    55-56, 

136-137,  154. 
Asceticism,  46. 
Athanasius,  50. 
Augustine,  missionary,  70. 
Augustine,  theologian,  53-55, 

60. 

Baptism,  16,  133,  154-155. 
Barbarians,    migrations,    29, 

65,  92-93. 
Benedictine  rule,  48. 
Bernard,  126,  141-144. 
Bible,  52-53,  155. 
Bishops,  25,  58,  59,  60,  122- 

124. 
Bohemia,  missions,  73. 
Boniface,  71-72,  74,  80. 


159 


British  Christianity,  70. 

Caesar  of  Heist erbach,  151. 

Canon  law,  131. 

Canossa,  104-105. 

Canterbury,  70,  71. 

Cathari,  131,  132. 

Catholic  Church,  58,  59-60. 

Celibacy,  clerical,  59,  94, 
106-107. 

Chalcedon,  council  and  creed, 
51. 

Charities  of  medieval  church, 
123,  154. 

Charlemagne,  66-68. 

Charles  Martel,  66. 

Chivalry,  115-116. 

Christians,  character  of,  first 
century,  20-21;  second 
and  third  centuries,  44- 
45;  early  Middle  Ages, 
88;  Middle  Ages,  141- 
152. 

Christian,  name,  19. 

Church  buildings,  55-56, 
136-137. 

Cistercian  monks,  125-126. 

Clairvaux,  142-143. 

Clergy,  morals   of,   86-87. 

Clergy  and  laity,  58-59. 

Clovis,  40. 

Cluny,  93. 


160 


INDEX 


Columba,  39. 

Confession,  128. 

Constantine,  30,  36-37,  50. 

Constantinople,  30,  59,  81. 

Coptic  Church,  63. 

Courts  of  church,  131. 

Crusades,  113-119;  causes, 
114-116;  First  Crusade, 
116-117;  Second  Crusade, 
143-144;  later  Crusades, 
117-118;  Children's  Cru- 
sade, 118;  results  of  Cru- 
sades, 118-119. 

Cybele,  10. 

Deacons,  25,  58. 
Decius,  36. 

Decretals,  false,  78-79. 
Denmark,  missions,  73. 
Diocese,  59. 
Diocletian,  30,  36. 
Disciples  of  Jesus,  15-18. 
Discipline,  45,  128-130. 
Dissenters,     54,     58,     62-63, 

131-132,  138-139. 
Dispersion,  Jewish,  9. 
Dominic,  144-145. 
Dominicans,   134,   144-145. 
Donatists,  54. 

Eastern  Church,  80-82,  96-98, 
154-156. 

Education  and  the  church, 
48,  67,  125,  127,  154. 

England,  missions,  69-71. 

Epicureanism,  12. 

Eucharist,  23,  57. 

Evangelical  religion  in  Mid- 
dle Ages,  151-152. 

Excommunication,  77,  130. 

Extent  of  Christianity,  19, 
32,  113. 


Fear,  religion  of,  91,  150. 
Francis  of  Assisi,  145-149. 
Franciscans,  134,  146-150. 
Franks,  29,  40,  65. 
Frederick  II,  112,  132. 
Freedmen,  32. 

Galerius,  36. 

German  empire,  68-69. 

Germans,  migrations  of,  29, 
65,  92. 

Germany,  missions,  71,  72. 

Gnosticism,  24,  49. 

Goths,  29-30,  38. 

Gothic  architecture,  137. 

Greek  Church,  80-82,  96-98, 
154-156. 

Greek  mysteries,  10-11. 

Greeks,  influence,  4;  intel- 
lectual life,  4-5,  12;  lan- 
guage, 5-6 ;  philosophers, 
4-5,  12;  religion,  9, 

Gregory  1,  70,  75-76,  78. 

Henry  IV,  103-105. 
Heresy,  132-133. 
Hildebrand,  95,  96,  101-110, 

119. 
Holy    Eoman    Empire,     68; 

and     the     church,     68-69, 

112. 

Image  worship  controversy, 
98. 

Indulgences,  123,  129. 

Innocent  III,  110-112,  119, 
132,  144,  146. 

Inquisition,   119,   131-132. 

lona,  39,  70. 

Ireland,  38-39,  70. 

Islam  (see  Mohammedan- 
ism). 


INDEX 


161 


Jacobite  Church,  63. 

Jerome,  47,  5-2-53. 

Jerusalem,  18,  59,  80,  117, 
118. 

Jesus,  founding  the  church, 
16-17;  hope  of  his  com- 
ing, 21 ;  and  his  disciples, 
15-16. 

Jewish  religion,  6-8,  11. 

Jews,  Q-9. 

John  of  Damascus,  98. 

John,  king,  110,  111. 

Judaizers,  24. 

Julian,  40-41. 

Justin,  33. 

Karl  the  Great,  66. 

Latin  Bible,     52-53. 
Latin  liturgy,  134-135. 
Law  of  church,  131. 
Lay  investiture,  102-103. 
Leo  I,  61. 
Lindisfarne,  70. 
Liturgies,  55,  134-135,  155. 
Lombards,  65. 
Lord's    Supper,    16,   23,    25, 

57,  91,  133,  134,  155. 
Lothaire,  77. 
Love-feast,  23. 

Magna  Charta,  111. 
Mariolatry,   56,   90,   135-136. 
Marriage,    clerical,     59,    94, 

106-107,   155-156. 
Martin  of  Tours,  38. 
Mass,  57,  91,  134. 
Medieval    missions,    method, 

74. 
Messianic  hope,  7-8. 
Metropolitans,  59,  79,  124. 


Missions,  18,  19,  32-34,  38- 
39,  49,  69-74,  79,  98,  99, 
149,  156. 

Mithraism,  10. 

Mohammedanism,  65,  80,  97, 
113,  115. 

Monasticism,  Benedictine 
rule,  48;  Cistercian  re- 
form, 125;  Cluniae  re- 
form, 93;  corruption,  87- 
88,  127-128;  Eastern  and 
Western,  47;  and  the 
papacy,  126;  services  to 
the  world,  48-49,  126-127; 
wealth  of  monasteries, 
122,  127-128. 

Monophysites,  62-63,  96. 

Monothelites,  96-97. 

Moral  influence  of  church, 
20,  44-45,  85-89,  150-151, 
154. 

Moravia,  missions,  73. 

Moslem  conquests,  65-66,  80, 
97,  113,  115. 

Mysteries,  10-11. 

Kero,  22,  35. 

Nestorians,  62,  99,  156. 

Nestorius,  62. 

New  Testament,  Epistles,  22 ; 

language,  6. 
Nicene  council,  50-51. 
Nicene  creed,  41,  50-51. 
Nicholas  I,  77,  79. 
Norman  architecture,  137. 
Normans,  65. 
Norway,  Christianization,  73. 

Old  Testament,  8,  22. 
Origen,  33-34. 
Orthodoxy,  51. 
Otto  I,  68,  87. 


162 


INDEX 


Palmers,  114. 

Papacy,      conquers      empire, 

112;        degradation,      87; 

and      monasticism,       126; 

rise,     60-61,     75-80,     107- 

108;    temporal  power,  77- 

78;    wealth,  123. 
Papal  elections,  102. 
Papal  States,  78,  122,  123. 
Papal    supremacy,     107-109, 

123-124. 
Patriarchs,  59,  60,  80. 
Patrick,  38-39. 
Paul,  3,  19. 
Pelagius,  55. 
Penance,  128-129. 
Pentecost,  17-18. 
Pepin,  67. 
Peter,  17,  18,  61. 
Peter  the  Hermit,  117. 
Peter 's  Pence,  123. 
Petrine  claim,  61. 
Pharisees,  11-12. 
Pilgrimages,  90,  114,  135. 
Pliny,  12. 

Poland,  Christianization,  73. 
Pope,  title,  61. 
Popular  religion,  89-92,  150- 

151,  155. 
Preaching,  26,  57,  134,  144, 

147,  155. 
Presbyter,  25,  58. 
Priests,  parish,  124-125. 
Priesthood,  powers,  138. 
Prophets,  26. 
Prophetic  ministry,  26. 
Purgatory,  129. 

Belies,  56,  90-91,  135,  155. 
Roman  bishop,   60-61,   75-80. 
Eoman  Empire,    decline,    28- 
29;    division,  30-31;  East- 


ern emperors,  31;  ex- 
tent, 2,  28;  fall  of  West- 
ern Empire,  30;  favoring 
Christianity,  40-41 ;  gov- 
ernment, 2-4;  morals  of 
society,  13,  28-29;  per- 
secution of  Christianity, 
34-36;  state  religion,  10, 
34. 

Roman  Empire,  Holy,  68-69. 

Rome,  capture,  30. 

Russia,  Christianization,  73- 
74,  98,  113. 

Sacraments,   16,   23,   57,   60, 

91,  133-134,  154-155. 
Sadducees,  11. 
Saint  worship,    56,    90,    135, 

155. 
Saxons,  29,  67,  69. 
Scotland,  missions,  39. 
Scottish      monks,      missions, 

39,  70. 
Simony,  86-87,  94. 
Slavery,  20,  154. 
Socrates,  5. 
Stephen,  18. 
Stoicism,  12. 
Superstitions,      90-91,      135, 

150-151,  155. 
Sweden,  missions,  73. 

Teachers,  26. 

Temporal   power,    of   popes, 

77-78. 
Tertullian,  33. 
Theodore  of  Tarsus,  71. 
Theodosius,  30,  41. 
Tours,  battle,  66. 
Transubstantiation,   91,   134. 
Turks,  115. 


INDEX 


163 


Ulfilas,  38. 
Urban  II,  116-117. 

Visigoths,  29-30. 
Vladimir,  73. 
Vulgate,  52-53. 

Waldenses,  131. 


Wealth    of    churcli,    122-123. 
Western  Church,  80-82,  113, 

also  101-154. 
Whitby,  synod,  71. 
Women,  position,  20,  154. 
Worship,    22-23,    55-57,    89- 

91,  133-136,  150,  155. 


